The Circle of Sorcerers
by bridgetwidget
Summary: Formerly Known as Your Task? Kill Emrys . Merlin is asked to become a leader of a meeting that wishes to kill Uther. He accepts, hoping to stop the plot. Unknown to Merlin, a witch has given Uther infomation on the meeting and their leader Emrys so Arthur sets off in a disguise to kill this Emrys. UP FOR ADOPTION
1. A Sorcerer's Invite

**Your Task? Kill Emrys**

_By Bridgetwidget_

**Title: **Your Task? Kill Emrys

**Author:** bridgetwidget

**Beta(s): **Mnemosyne77 (Chapter 9-10), Saturn-Jupiter (Chapter 12 on)

**Summary: **Merlin is invited to a meeting by another Sorcerer that wishes to kill Uther and Arthur and they also want Merlin to become their leader. He accepts, hoping to stop the plot to kill the royal family. Unknown to Merlin, a witch has given Uther information on the meeting and their leader Emrys so Arthur sets off in a disguise to the meeting to kill this Emrys.

**Spoilers: **All of Season 1, Set between episode 2x03 and 2x04.

**Pairings: **None

**Characters: **All Canon Characters, Six Main OC's

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Merlin or any of its characters. If I did I would be richer…which I am not.

**A/N: **32 Chapters Planned. No Slash, no romance. Just lots of juicy drama. Centres around Merlin/Arthur friendship.

**Chapter 1: A Sorcerer's Invite**

Today was just like any other day for Merlin; repetitive, boring chores that he did practically every other day. Not that he was complaining or anything; Arthur meant a lot to him even though when any conversation went into the more caring side they would quickly make a joke and continue bantering. It was how these two boys, or men, connected. To the Knights and other people who would watch them hurl insults and jokes at each other, it would seem as though they were the worst of enemies. But Merlin's relationship with Arthur was strong and firm, each with unfailing trust in the other. Well, almost. Merlin had a secret.

Sometimes Merlin would want Arthur to know his secret but how Arthur would react to Merlin was unknown. He was scared at what bonds of friendship and trust would snap before the message got across to Arthur that Merlin was really a good warlock; if the message ever would get across. It would be so simple for Arthur to execute him. His father would be proud of him, like Arthur always wanted. It would also be so simple for Arthur to banish Merlin from Camelot and Merlin would have to live on, knowing that the friendship between them had been destroyed forever. But if that was to happen Merlin knew he would keep protecting Arthur, sneaking around the castle doing what he could.

But Merlin did not want future for himself. So instead of bursting into Arthur's room and yelling "I'm a Sorcerer!" Merlin put off telling Arthur day after day. But everyday that passed made Merlin more and more nervous about telling Arthur, until he could no longer even consider telling Arthur the truth. It tore him apart to know that he had to keep this secret from him. It was like Will had said when his was in Ealdor, "Your living a Lie, Merlin." And that is what his life was, a lie.

Merlin sighed and ran his long, slender fingers through his raven hair. He was supposed to be collecting herbs for Gaius but his dark blue eyes were sore from leaning over in the base of trees and looking for herbs in the middle of long, tall grass.

It was warm but not unpleasantly so. The sun streamed through the leaves, making them shine red, orange and gold. Summer had ended a few weeks ago so the unique beauty of autumn weaved through the forest. The birds sang to each other in the highest branches of trees and those animals whose homes were closer to the ground ran busily around, collecting whatever they needed to survive the winter.

Exactly like the people of Camelot, Merlin thought, rocking back on his heels. The people had been busy preparing themselves for the cruel, harsh winters. The last harvest had been grown and collected, extra rugs had been bought, houses been repaired and the food stores replenished. Unknown to Gaius, Merlin had been helping the preparations in his special distinctive way. Farmers could sometimes find the perfect weather for growing crops and the wolves kept far away from the livestock. But Merlin always made sure that the magic could never be detected.

Sifting through the leaves Merlin continued looking for herbs. He looked everywhere for one small stalk to shoot out of the ground but his efforts were in vain, for he had picked up every herb in his favourite area to finds herbs.

Sighing again and getting to his feet, Merlin looked into the bag that Gaius had given him. It was only half-full, not the usual amount that he would collect. Grumbling he pocketed the bag and turned around to head back to Camelot-

Only to almost run into a man who just stood in front of him.

Taking a step back Merlin looked at the man up and down. He wore a smooth black tunic and long brown pants. The pants looked unblemished unlike Merlin's grubby pants. A purple belt was tied around the man's waist and hanging from the belt was a pouch that was stuffed with something. He also wore a black cloak, hanging off his shoulders slightly but the hood was off so Merlin could see his face. Like Merlin's, his skin was pale but he wasn't as skinny. His mouth had a twisted smile and his eyes were brown. But on closer inspection, Merlin could see a sort of controlling, powerful look about them.

His hand was held out and in his hand was a small plant, the same plant that Gaius had sent Merlin out to find.

"Hello Emrys."

That was all the confirmation that Merlin needed. He was dealing with a sorcerer for only sorcerers and druids knew that name.

Another of his kind. Merlin was both overjoyed and cautious at the same time. Overjoyed because he hoped that this sorcerer may be good and that he could have a tutor who could actually teach him powerful magic. There was only so much that you could learn from a spell book.

But then memories of Edwin crossed his mind. Once before Merlin had been enchanted by charisma and the cost was almost fatal for the people that he loved. Caution took over his body. Who would trust a man who sneaked up behind you? He has had too many close shaves with death to trust anyone now.

"What do you want? Who are you? And my name is _Merlin." _The warlock said the first three things that popped into his mind.

The sorcerer smiled, still holding out the herb, "Inquisitive aren't you? In answer to your questions, my name is Magnar. And I want many things Emrys."

Merlin frowned and shot back, "My name is not Emrys its Merlin."

"Don't lie to me Emrys. I know that you know that is your name. I could sense your magic from Camelot city. Powerful magic, you are. You cannot hide it."

In his thoughts, Merlin screamed. This man, this Magnar knew he had magic. He repeated his question, "What do you want?"

He watched the other sorcerer take a deep breath, "In two night's time a meeting will be commenced. This meeting is made up of sorcerers, seers, warlocks, witches, everything. I wish," he paused, "we wish for you Emrys to join us. To throw any hate between our kin away. To be united in one goal."

It was obvious that the speech was prepared, and Merlin paused thinking it over. A large group of magic users in one area? Uther would find out. And if he was in that group he would be killed for sorcery. But the temptation of meeting others of his kind rose. One question would have to be answered first.

"What is the goal?"

Magnar's grin grew; it was obvious to Merlin that he was glad that he had his attention, "To return magic to the land."

Return magic to the land. His destiny. If this meeting succeeded he would no longer have to hide his gifts. He could protect Arthur easily and gain thanks from his trouble. He could stop living a lie.

"How?"

"That depends on how the meeting goes. Some are for an assassination plot to kill Uther. Some are for killing Uther and Arthur. Whilst some are for a more peaceful way. And some are for destroying Camelot entirely."

When Merlin heard the words; killing Arthur, his mind blanked out except for one thought. He had to stop this plot.

Killing Magnar wouldn't help, for he didn't know where the rest of the sorcerers could be found. And Magnar was only one sorcerer, there were many other more bloodthirsty sorcerers out there, intent on doing Arthur serious harm. He couldn't go to the meeting and then slaughter every sorcerer there either. That would make him as bad as Uther, not to mention the balance of the world would veer out of control.

There was really only one way out of this, join the meeting and find out the sorcerers plans. Either try to persuade them to opt for a more peaceful attempt at bringing magic back into the land and hid in the background until it was all over. If that failed then protect Camelot alone (or with any support that he could get), and try to keep Arthur alive.

Merlin shuddered at a sudden vision, him alone, trying to stop hundreds of others from killing Arthur. But that was the emergency plan, he would hope for a more peaceful way.

To start, though, he would have to join the meeting; risking his own life.

"I will, Magnar, join this meeting." He took the herb from his hand.

Swinging his hand back to his body, Magnar pulled at his pouch around his belt. He withdrew a small charm and passed it over to Merlin.

"Well done, Emrys. You have made the right choice. At nightfall go beyond the White Mountains, through the Valley of the Fallen kings and beyond the Great Seas of Meridor. There you will find the Isle-"

"Of the Blessed. I know. I have been there before," Merlin trembled at the memories. The burning feel across his chest. Gaius, lying dead on the floor. Nimueh smiling over his body.

He looked down at the charm in his hand. It was silver and polished. The charm made in the shape of a shield, like the knights wore in fighting tournaments. Squinting, Merlin could make out on the shield a rose and a star imprinted on a wall of a castle. His heart leapt when he realised that the castle was Camelot.

"Very well, Emrys. There is one more question to ask of you."

"What?" He lifted his head from analysing the charm.

Magnar's eyes grew a little darker and launched into another well prepared speech, "Emrys, is has come to the attention, and the attention of many others that you may be one of the most powerful sorcerers in Camelot. Because of this and for many other reasons we believe that you would make a good, strong leader in the times to come. It would be a favour for all. But remember as leader you cannot order the sorcerers to forget their wants and leap at your commands."

A leader? Merlin also jumped in surprise. Him being a leader over his kind. This man had never met him before, so how could he judge that he would be a good leader? Had he been watching him for days? Merlin was about to respond, but there was one thing he had to clarify, something that Magnar had said confused him.

"What do you mean by not ordering them to forget their wants?"

"I mean that if you want to kill Uther you cannot just order them to do so. There are some that would rebel."

Not so different from Camelot then, Merlin thought. Being a leader over these people would help in matters but it would also backfire in many ways. It would help for he could have more control over the sorcerers, and though he couldn't order them against his wishes he could persuade them slowly. But it would backfire for Arthur would find out quicker; he couldn't hide in the corner if they end up trying to take over Camelot.

But being a leader would help so much. He could find out everything that he needed to know about anyone, without it looking strange or nosy.

_Listen to myself_, Merlin thought, _I am already sounding like a King._

For that is what he would become, a king over sorcerers. But he wasn't king material, he was just Merlin. Merlin of Ealdor. Merlin the clumsy idiot of a servant.

But for reasons unknown to himself, the position of leader felt right. So without thinking of the problems Merlin answered.

"Yes."

The sorcerer smiled, "Very well Emrys. Take that charm to the Isle of the Blessed at nightfall in two night's time and you shall become leader of the Sorcerers. I shall now go and inform all other sorcerers. Is there any other requests?"

All other sorcerers...Morgana!

Shaking with fear that was hopefully unnoticed by Magnar, Merlin thought it over. Morgana would have to come to the meeting, she was a witch and so she had to. But Merlin could not be seen as who he truly was. After some consideration Merlin came to a conclusion.

"Because I wish to continue with my life here in Camelot I would wish it that my birth name, the name that everyone knows me by, stays unknown. You can only call me Emrys. I will also keep a hood on at all times for there are people that I don't wished to be seen by," another thought struck him, "How many people know the connection to my birth name and my real name?"

"Only myself and a few others, my lord."

Merlin shuddered at the use of such a word, "Tell them they are sworn to secrecy. And when you tell others of my acceptation to become leader, only tell them that Emrys is now the leader, nothing more.

"Is that all?"

Is that all. Merlin could recognize using those words only yesterday, asking Arthur after he gave him a massive list of jobs to do. How quickly had Merlin become a somebody, a leader. Already he could feel the order coming from his own lips. And now he could understand what Magnar meant by a few other reasons that made Merlin good for leader. How quickly Merlin had brushed off being a servant. It was almost unnatural.

_I should have expected this. You can't be one of the most powerful sorcerers in Camelot and be a servant of no importance at the same time._

"No, that is it."

Magnar took a deep bow, something that Merlin would have done only recently to Uther, "I take my leave."

He whispered some words and then he was gone, leaving Merlin alone with his charm.


	2. The Dark side of Ambition

**Chapter 2: The Dark Side of Ambition**

Camelot had never really changed much, thought Tyra to herself. There were still the tall stone castle ways, the small brown homes in the lower town. The same smell in the air. The people hadn't changed much, the horses changed much.

But the feeling had.

Twenty years ago, it had felt like home. Now, it felt like a prison. The guards walking around, looking for others of her kind, the whispers and the accusers, the pyre and the light stench of smoke in the courtyard and the mourning families, hating their King.

Their king, Uther Pendragon. How much hate that man could make, Tyra had no idea. A servant had once overheard Morgana say to the king that the more brutal he is the more enemies he will create. But Uther hadn't listened to the wise girl's words and now a meeting was planned to destroy him. Or was going to be planned, depending how they worked it out. His loss.

In her grubby small hand, Tyra clutched a small charm that was quickly losing its shine. She had no idea how she had merited an invite for she looked and was anything but a witch.

Most of her kind are pale, slender people who brought about an air of mystery. In a way, Tyra thought she was lucky for the sorcerer's pallor made them stick out in the night, and whilst Uther's reign was on, that was the last thing that you wanted to do. Her skin was tanned from her younger years in the sun, before she had learnt witchcraft. She was short but thin, an unlucky combination. And her hair was light brown and messy. Around her shoulder was a bag. She looked just like another peasant wandering the streets.

Which suited her fine, for Uther was probably still looking for her. She had been hunted for almost ten years now and she wanted a break, which was slightly odd, for she had never ever seen a guard chasing her. She just assumed that the King would be hunting her down with all the knights and everything.

Tyra didn't care for the wants of other sorcerers. She just wanted to be free and not 'hunted'.

Which was why she was in Camelot.

Only a few minutes ago Magnar came to her to give her the invitation. She was quiet surprised to get one for she hadn't done magic for just under ten years but Magnar just replied that this was also her fight as well. A fight for the freedom of magic. Truthfully, she didn't like the sound of that meeting at all. Too much magic in one place. Too much power. It would attract too much attention. And if she went she would be teased for having so little power. Those powerful ones would prance around, showing off what they could do and suck up to whoever the elected leader was.

A powerful sorcerer was just like a rich noble.

After giving her the unexpected charm, Magnar than told her that the elected leader was going to be Emrys. The name meant a lot to Tyra. For that name was revered among her kind, thanks to the prophecy. Emrys would be the great warlock that would return magic to Camelot. So she knew that this meeting would actually go somewhere and not just involve a lot of squabbling sorcerers.

All the more reason not to go to the meeting.

But there was a deeper, darker secret in her mind. A secret that if Magnar knew, he would be killing her in seconds.

If Emrys was to succeed in returning magic to Camelot than Tyra's position wouldn't change. She still would be a weak, lesser witch, having to rely on potions and such to perform magic. But Tyna wanted to be a someone. And to become that someone she would have to swim with the sharks.

She would have to join Uther and betray her own kind.

Stepping out of the alleyway that she hid in, Tyra started the long walk up to Uther's hall, the council hall. In her mind she rehearsed what she was going to say to Uther, over and over again. She walked over the drawbridge and into the castle's courtyard with ease, for who would suspect someone who looked like a peasant?

The courtyard was full of people; servants running here and there, knights walking along with an air of dignity and noble woman showing off their riches. It was all the same in every castle that she entered.

She walked up the stairs and into the corridors of the castle. She couldn't walk five paces without running into someone. People of higher importance knocked her out of the way as they hurried here and there.

When she became a somebody, she contemplated to herself, people won't run into her and then walk past without saying sorry. They will jump out of the way.

She was so consumed by her thoughts that she almost walked straight past the council hall. Coming to an undignified halt she stood outside the door. Her head bowed in thought she prepared herself for a few seconds and then pushed open the door.

Inside the cool hall two men were in deep discussion. One of them wore a crown upon his head and his garments were fine and expensive. His cloak was a deep purple colour and battle scars were spread over his face. Age has taken its toll on the older man so his hair is flecked with grey.

Uther Pendragon. The Tyrant King.

Behind the throne is another man who is many years younger than the former. Tyna had once, with all of the other woman in Camelot, dreamed of being his bride, his queen.

Arthur Pendragon, son of the Tyrant King.

The father and son stopped talking when she stepped into the room. They stared at her for a second, their faces blank. Tyra stood there for a second, her eyes closed, waiting for the accusations and the cries of 'Witch!'

Silence.

After a few seconds she sneaked a peak at the King but he wasn't even looking at her. He was staring at his son, his face blank, and his son was staring at her with a funny look.

She waited a few more seconds. Obviously the King was shocked to see her, she thought to herself. Nobody could forget a witch's face, and hers was important to Uther. She was a witch. She escaped.

Silence.

No shouts of accusations and no cried of witch.

"What do you want girl?"

Ten years since Tyra had heard that voice and still it shook her to the core. She trembled for a second and then launched into a well-rehearsed speech.

"Greetings from afar my King. I have come before you today to give information of a gathering of sorcerers bent on taking over the kingdom. I am giving you this information as a great risk to myself for I am betraying those who trust in me to serve you my liege. I give you this information in hope that you will stop these unwanted meetings."

The King just stared at her, a frown on his face.

"My Lord?" she asked warily. She hoped that she had not messed up in her speech.

Uther sat down on his throne, "What is your name?"

"Ty...Ty-ler" she lied. If Uther didn't recognize her by her face then he would recognize her name.

"Well, Tyler. Tell me what you know of this so called meeting."

Tyra breathed a sigh of relief, her first part in the betrayal had worked, "I have heard that this meeting is going to commence in two night's time. Every witch, wizard, warlock, seer, sorcerer and sorceress in Albion has been invited. This meeting is the first of many that will decide how to return magic to the kingdom. There will be hundreds of magic users in one place, my lord."

She paused for the moment and took another breath.

"The meeting will take place at the Isle of the Blessed where the Old Religion is at its strongest. The magic users will conjure up chairs or sit on the ground around the altar in the middle. In the middle is the elected leader of the group. He or she stands and walks around the altar. He also performs a spell around the meeting but nobody ever knows what it is for."

Tyra paused, she had forgotten the next part of her speech. In the moment of silence the king spoke up.

"Who is the leader this time?"

She smiled. The King unknowingly had made her remember her speech again, "The most power warlock in the entire Albion. This is his first meeting ever, for the times before he had not yet learned spells and thus he was not counted as a warlock. There is a prophecy about him. That is will be the one that returns magic to Camelot. Nobody has ever met this man. His name is Emrys."

Uther's head frowned in thought and he turned to his son, who was standing behind him in thought, "Tyler, are there too many Knight's against sorcerers? How many sorcerers? How is the island set out?"

She smiled. This was her area.

She went on to explain how the Isle was to be set up and up everything to do with the sorcerers, their power plays and their wants. A one point she drew out a map that showed the Isle and gave it to the King. All the while thinking to herself.

What would happen to her if Uther didn't win? She would be quickly killed and thrown away. She would be hated by all. And Emrys, whoever he was, would be extremely angry and magic would fly out of control. But then, she thought, Tyra wouldn't just be the name of some pathetic witch.

Tyra would be the name that brought destruction and terror. She would be remembered forever and that was her dearest wish.

Uther had finished looking at the map and was now discussing something with his son. They seemed to be very animated in their conversation and Tyra tried to listen in. She couldn't hear what they were saying so she just stepped back and watched as her plan unfolded.

"Tyler," her head snapped to Arthur again, "What would you do with the sorcerers, how would you eradicate them?"

Uther's face was scrunched up, as if he hated the fact that his son had asked such a question. Tyra's mouth slackened and the pretended innocence, "Why do you ask me, my lord?"

Arthur sighed next to his father, "Because you had all the information. We," a look from his father had him backtracking, "I find that the informer can become a good planner."

This was highly unexpected in Tyra's plan but this could help matters greatly, "I would send one person out the Isle in a disguise. That person would attend the first meeting and see who the leader is. Then I would stay for the next few meetings and find out the sorcerers' plans and send messages back to Camelot. If they mass an attack on Camelot I would kill their leader, it would buy you more time."

The two men were silent for a moment, starting at her. Then Arthur spoke up, "That plan does have its merits. And if what Tyler says is true, a knight or a spy could easily pass as a weak sorcerer."

Uther rounded on his son, "Merits? This plan is terrible. For that spy you would need someone really good and all of my good people are needed here in Camelot. I cannot take that risk. We are dealing with sorcerers here! Hundreds of them! It still shocks me that there are so many of them in this kingdom!"

"But, put it this way father. From what Tyler says the Sorcerers aren't that different from another kingdom. They have a leader, they have their nobles. It's just like putting a spy in enemy territory!"

"One problem, all our spies are busy."

Arthur started to pace, "Then...I'll go."

Uther and Tyra's mouth fell open in shock, "You?"

"Yes. I'll go. You need the knights here. I'll go because I am the best spy here," Arthur showed a characteristic lack of modesty.

The argument that followed was long and Tyra's feet became sore. She wanted to move but she was afraid that her plans could go out of the window by drawing attention to herself.

The afternoon was almost over when a decision was made. Tyra cursed herself, realising that she had not been paying attention to what was happening. She only caught the last few words of the conversation that the King and the Prince was having.

"My decision is final father. I will go."

The look on Uther's face told Tyra that he knew he had lost, "Very well. But this is on your head."

Arthur's features didn't show any emotion to his father's last comment, "Tyler. Tell be everything about the meeting. How to get in and how to pass for a sorcerer."

She told him, well aware that if this got out she would be dead pretty soon if all this came out. She drew out the charm and gave it to Arthur, who looked at it carefully. When she had finished Uther offered her a bed for the night which she accepted.

As she was being led out of the hall by one of the servants she heard Uther speak one sentence to his son.

"Remember, if they plan an attack on Camelot, my son; Kill Emrys and Emrys alone."

Tyra smiled, her plan was going well.


	3. Morgana's Shield

**Chapter 3 – Morgana's Shield **

It was mid-morning when Merlin entered the gates of Camelot.

He walked through the drawbridge; his steps light, opposite to what his heart was feeling. The world seemed to crash into him as he considered the enormity of the situation that he had landed himself into. This situation was not one that he could fight out of by magic and power. It would involve the skill of swaying people, getting them to do what you liked. But Merlin of Ealdor was not born for that, he could feel that, so why did he want to be the leader of the sorcerers so much?

The answer was not very clear to him. Merlin had never wanted people bowing at his feet, something that he had reminded many sorcerers who asked before. They had all asked the same question, 'Join Me'. Yet joining them would always lead to Arthur's inevitable death, so why would joining this meeting, and in turn joining other sorcerers that have evil intent, be any different? Was it because he felt more in control then before for this time he was in a position of power? Merlin didn't know and that was what was eating him on the inside, not knowing the outcome. Instead of fighting the expected, the never ending attacks on Arthur's life in the same, repetitive action, he was fighting the unanticipated. He had no knowledge or experience of verbal wars and treaties. He could only use what knowledge he had to guide him, there would be no dragon and no Gaius to help him now.

Merlin saw that there were three main decisions that the meeting could come to. The first, to find a way to bring magic back to Camelot in the most peaceful way possible. How was yet to be decided but Merlin could start to see the beginnings of some plans. The second, to kill Uther and hope that Arthur can be persuaded to return the magic. Yet this plan would have one fatal flaw; if Uther was to die my magic that would make Arthur hate the cause of his father's death and would refuse to return magic to Camelot. This would not work for Merlin for he dreamed of a day where magic was used for the good of Camelot, and he would have to hide his powers till the day that he died.

The last, and the least wanted, scenario was that the sorcerers would range out of control and end up attacking Camelot, aiming to kill Uther and Arthur. If that was to happen Merlin would have to cast aside his cloak and move into the light, showing Arthur who he truly. And if Arthur didn't kill him, a nightmare would arise that would destroy everything in the kingdom. A nightmare of Merlin standing alone against terrible odds; hundreds of sorcerers are screaming for his demise, Uther, Arthur and the rest of Camelot cowering behind him. He would die, Uther would die, Arthur would die, and all of Camelot would die. Everything would have to be done to avoid that possibility.

To avoid the latter Merlin would have to take control over a very powerful and very large group of people. Some of those people, many the sorcerers with powers that match his own, would resent Merlin's leadership. Some would think that they were cheated out of the position and that only because Merlin was so powerful did he get the position of leader. To ensure that they would not munity against him he would have to make sure that all their needs were met and that they were happy. If they weren't happy they wouldn't follow him, and if they didn't follow him they might aim for a different resolution to regain magic to Camelot. This would probably mean the death of the royal family and most of Camelot...

Arthur would have a much better job at this.

During his pondering about the meeting, Merlin had almost failed to notice that he had walked into the castle courtyard. Coming to a halt, he remembered that he had to take the bag of herbs to Gaius and get back to Arthur.

Only when he was halfway up the stairs to Gaius' chambers did he realise the stupidity and the magnitude of the situation.

When saving Arthur's life before, he normally would sit back and relax until the danger comes. Then fight the danger and then sit back and calm down. Now though, he was jumping forwards like the idiot he was and trying to change sorcerers' minds to get them to do as he wants.

Damn it he was an idiot.

He should have just left Magnar alone, ignored the meeting and then deal with whatever threat would come. Now though, he was in massive danger. All the sorcerers could expect the leader to help their needs. There need for Uther's death. How could Merlin betray them and get out of there alive?

He was lost on ideas.

So maybe he shouldn't have taken the offer of leadership, but it was too late now, Magnar had already started tell all other sorcerers.

Speaking of other sorcerers...

Hearing Morgana's shrill cry Merlin crept up to the top of the stairs and stood outside the door. Eavesdropping was a very low thing to do but Merlin knew if he walked in, Morgana would stop talking to Gaius and if one of them caught him he could always make up some excuse.

"Gaius, you're the only one that I can trust. I tell you there was a sorcerer in my rooms."

That was Morgana, speaking to Gaius. Heart beating wildly, Merlin listened harder.

"What did this sorcerer look like?" Gaius, kind and fatherly as always to Morgana.

"He had a black tunic on and brown pants. He wore a black cloak. He just came into my room and spoke to me and left."

Magnar, Merlin stuffed his hand into his mouth to stop himself from yelling out. Magnar had visited Morgana already, she knew about the meeting. She would know that the leader is Emrys.

"Did you tell the King?"

"No," she sounded frantic, "would I tell the King that there was a sorcerer in my bedroom? No, he would start a massive witch hunt. Many innocents would die, and-and anyway Magnar is long gone."

"Magnar," Gaius gave a gasp of understanding.

A pause, then, "Yes, do you know him?"

Another moment of silence and Merlin opened the door slightly to hear better.

"Also known as the Charm-Giver. He comes to all of the sorcerers, witches, wizards, every magic person in the land that, in his eyes, are worthy enough to be called a magic user. When he comes, it means that a process of meetings will take place to discuss a cause of action. Before the Great Purge these meetings were used to weed out all those who wished to use magic for evil. Now, they wish to return magic to Camelot even if that means killing Uther."

"And this meeting...they will decide how to kill Uther?"

Gaius sighed, "I cannot answer that, for there are some that hate murder. There are good sorcerers out there, but they hide away from the world and let the one with less honourable intentions try and return magic to Camelot. And thus, Magic was given a bad name in Uther's eyes."

"So was that the cause of the Great Purge?"

Here Gaius faltered a little, "Er-yeah. I-It was probably a, umm, contributing factor."

At this Morgana was silent, and then she spoke softly, "Magnar gave me an invitation." Something rustled inside, and Merlin peaked around the corner of the door. Morgana was holding out a shield to Gaius.

Merlin blinked and withdrew back around the corner. So he wasn't alone in the meeting anymore. Suddenly being a leader wasn't so daunting. There would be at least one well-known face in the crowds

"So, you have a choice, go to the meeting, or don't. The shield, the charm is yours. It is your invitation"

Morgana's voice was slightly shaky, "Did you get one Gaius?"

Gaius laughed, "Me? No."

"Should I go?"

Gaius stopped laughing. Merlin could imagine him grasping Morgana's shoulder, "That choice is up to you. But if you do go, don't make it well-known that you are Uther's ward. The more powerful out of them would want to use you to get to him. Stay quiet. But you will be fine; the power plays of sorcerers are just like the power plays of nobles, something you have grown up with all of your life. But be careful my child."

In a clear voice, full of confidence, "I will go Gaius. I will watch and I will learn. And hopefully I will stop bloodshed. In two night's time I will go to the Isle of the Blessed."

"I cannot alter your decision, but I will give you guidance. Wear a cloak and stay in the background for as long as possible. After each meeting come home and tell me what happened."

Merlin heard the sounds of someone getting to their feet, "Thank you Gaius."

Footsteps crossed the floor and Merlin fled from his position outside the door. Coming to a halt at the bottom the stairs he started to walk up them again, making it seem as though he had just arrived. When he was half-way up the door opened and a very determined Morgana stepped out.

She looked down the stairs and Merlin walked up to her, waving his hand in greeting. She nodded and walked past him. Merlin opened the door into Gaius' chambers.

Gaius was working on some experiment and he was muttering to himself. Merlin coughed and he jumped, almost knocking a row of test tubes over.

"Merlin. Where have you been?"

The warlock walked over to Gaius, pulling a bag out of his pocket, "Collecting Herbs."

"Yes, Merlin. I know that. But why are you later than usual?"

He passed over the bag to Gaius and lied, "Because-umm- because there were hardly any herbs left and I had to go look for more in other places."

Frowning Gaius looked into the bag, "There really isn't enough her-wait. What is this?"

Merlin had just been pulling off his jacket to lay it on a chair when the question was asked. He spun around, "What's what?"

"This." Gaius was holding up the charm.

Damn it! Merlin gasped. He had forgotten that he had left the charm in the bag, "It-its a..ummm...present! Yes, a present!"

"From who?" Gaius asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"From, from one of the maids in the Kitchen! Yes, Chelsea gave it to me, or wait...umm was it Eva. I don't know they both look the same. You know what Gaius. I think I will just take that Charm from you and ask them who gave it to me. Yes, I think I will do that-"

"Merlin, what have I told you about lying to me."

"I shouldn't."

"Yes," Gaius placed the charm on the table, "I know what this is Merlin."

"Do you?" Merlin feigned surprise.

"Yes. You have been talking to Magnar."

There was no point denying it, "Yes."

"You were invited to a meeting."

"Yes."

Gaius' voice had been getting angrier, "And you, will full awareness of what the consequences were, decided to join this group that will most likely get caught and sentence to death by Uther."

"Yes!"

He marched straight up to Merlin, "What were you thinking! How many times do I have to say this? You magic must be kept a secret!"

That set Merlin off, "What is the point of having magic if I have to keep it a secret! And did you tell Morgana that! No! You told her she can do what she liked! Or am I too young, too idiotic to do anything for myself!"

"Merlin! Never think that. I cared about you a lot. You are like a son to me."

"So why are you go against me going?"

This made Gaius pause for a moment. Merlin's heart was beating wildly, he had to go. If he didn't Magnar and all of the other sorcerers would hunt him down, and if they appeared in the middle of Uther's Court it would be the end of Merlin.

"I am not against you going," Gaius told Merlin in a much gentler tone, "it's just, well. You are like a son to me. I don't want to lose you. But you are right in your arguments and I am sorry. You may go but _be careful!_"

Merlin heaved a sigh in relief, "Yes I will."

Surprising Merlin, Gaius went up and hugged him, his head over Merlin's shoulder. But Merlin had something else to tell Gaius. Something that he couldn't keep from him so he whispered into his Uncle's ear.

"I forgot to mention that the sorcerers elected me as their leader."


	4. The Views of Sorcery

**Chapter 4 – The Views of Sorcery**

Walking back through to his chambers, Arthur thought about the girl Tyler.

She had turned out of nowhere and Arthur couldn't recognize her from anywhere. But if her information was true that the fight against sorcery would become easier. This was the turning point in his father's campaign to eradicate all magic from Camelot and maybe one day, the whole of Albion.

Arthur's views on magic weren't so focused as his father's. He could understand and he believed that magic was evil but sometime he wondered if his father was a little strict and unfair on those who had no choice to be involved with magic or not. But Arthur could do nothing to changes his father's views. The one thought that bothered him the most was that he had no idea what caused the Great Purge. Once, when he was younger, he had snuck into the library and into the records to see what events had happened when the Purge started. But he only found out that the purge started on the day he was born and the day his mother died before his father had caught him. When his father had found him looking into the records he was in such a rage that Arthur didn't dare leave his chambers for days. It was only after his father had calmed down a little did he leave his room.

They never spoke of the incident again, nor did Arthur ever go into the library again.

One of his father's lessons, though, was stuck into his mind. That was that anyone could be a sorcerer, even his best friends. But Arthur found that extraordinarily hard to believe. It was one thing to assume a stranger was a sorcerer but another to even consider someone like _Merlin _to be a sorcerer.

Merlin. A smile unwillingly crept up to his lips. Merlin was an impulsive, reckless idiot who made was better entertainment to Arthur than all of the Court Fools put together. Not a single day went by where Merlin didn't drop, spill or fall over something which would make Arthur crack up. But he was also a good friend and even though Arthur hid the returned feelings but adopting a princely manner, he cared for Merlin like an older brother.

To think that Merlin was a sorcerer would be absurd.

But there was a part of Merlin that was mysterious, like he had something to hide. Arthur couldn't think what, but that was one of the many things of Merlin that was so endearing. He had walked into many conversations between servants about Merlin and when he asked Gwen about them she just smiled and held a finger to her lips. Not understanding Arthur asked her what she meant. She replied with a sigh,

"Every single maid and servant in the castle seems nurse a crush on Merlin, who remains blissfully ignorant."

Shaking his head from thoughts about Merlin, Arthur moved his attention elsewhere.

He had arrived at his chambers and was sitting on his large bed. The task ahead, the meeting and the possible assassination of Emrys, flew into his thoughts.

Arthur had done spying before, spying for his father whilst assuming another role. Sometimes in disguise, other times as Crowned Prince of Camelot. But this is out of his comfort zone slightly. He was dealing with hundreds of sorcerers, some wanting his death. He wondered how long it would take before any sorcerers realised that he couldn't perform magic. But there must be some amongst them that refused to use magic?

Arthur didn't know and that is what scared him.

He remembered how much his father argued against him going. But it was his duty to Camelot, if there is to be a war against masses of sorcerers than he would have to perform his duty and stop this war. But if the war was inevitable, if it could not be avoided, then Arthur would have to kill to buy more time.

According to what Tyler said, it would seem as this Emrys is young. She told him that it was his first meeting ever, which would mean that he would find it hard to control the sorcerers. In a way, Arthur thought, it would be like appearing from nowhere and jumping into the role of prince, pushing aside the true heir. That would be one situation that he would like to avoid.

The description of the man that Tyler gave, though cryptic, told Arthur that this was a man that would practice secrecy often. But the words that most unnerved him the most was that he was the most power warlock in the Albion. Arthur had met and fought many other sorcerers before and their skill was astounding, evil but beautiful. They would often boast about being the most powerful to have lived. But Tyler was adamant that this Emrys was the best warlock. There had even been prophecies about him.

There was no point thinking about that now, there could even be a chance that the sorcerers could aim for a peaceful resolution to regain magic. Highly unlikely, but it wall still a possibility.

For now, though, he would have to get his idiot manservant to prepare for his trip. But Merlin was late, something that Arthur was getting use to. But that didn't mean that he got less annoyed every time.

"MERLIN!" No response. His grinning manservant didn't appear anywhere with some excuse for being late.

Pouting, Arthur looked outside at the sun. It was late and even when Merlin was extra ordinarily late he would be here by now. Something was keeping away from Arthur and the prince intended to find out.

* * *

Merlin looked out of the window, wincing. It was late and soon Arthur would come to him to see why he was so behind schedule. But there was one thing keep Merlin from running to his master and that was the shocked look on Gaius' face.

They had been standing here for five minutes since Merlin had told Gaius that he was a leader of the sorcerers. Gaius had not said a word, just staring at Merlin shock. Merlin knew that he was in massive trouble because Gaius was only just starting to accept that he was going to a meeting of people that Uther would want killed. Never before had Merlin been scared of Gaius but the look on his face made Merlin squirm slightly.

He sighed again, but Gaius did nothing.

"It's done, Gaius. Nothing that I say or do can change it."

His guardian's mouth snapped shut. They looked at each other.

Gaius' voice was husky, whispered, "Merlin..."

The disgraced boy was about to reply but a sound of footsteps made them both turn to the door.

* * *

Arthur walked up the stairs to the physician's chambers, hoping that Merlin was in there. Arthur was already thinking of how he could yell at Merlin today and whether or not he should throw Merlin into the stocks for his laziness.

He walked up the stairs and pushed the door into Gaius' chambers without knocking, something that he had often told Merlin off for doing.

Stepping inside he looked around for Merlin.

The chambers were an orderly mess; books stacked in random places on desks, potions and herbs in cupboards and shelves and a quickly made bed in another corner. Some stairs led up to Merlin's small bedroom. One table was completely covered with unnameable scientific objects, the latest experiment of Gaius. The man in question was staring at the door his face of hastily covered shock.

Next to the window, also staring at Arthur was Merlin. His looked sheepish, probably knowing that he was very late but there was a deeper look about him. He looked, in Arthur's eyes, scared. Arthur couldn't fathom why he would look like that. Many times before had Merlin got into bigger trouble than the trouble that he was in now but never did he look scared.

Almost at once, Arthur could feel the tension in the room. It was as if a massive argument was about to begin. He shuffled uncomfortably.

"Merlin."

When his name was called by Arthur, Merlin walked forwards with his hands up, grinning widely "I suppose I will walk to the stocks myself."

Arthur laughed, slightly cutting the tension in the room, "You can do that, after you do your chores of course."

Bowing low, Merlin spoke in a teasing tone "Yes _sir-"_

"Arthur," in his bent over position Merlin spun around to face Gaius, "I need to talk to Merlin today. He will need the day off."

Arthur opened his mouth to protest, to say that he needed Merlin. But when he saw the look on Gaius' face he quickly backed off.

"Yes, Gaius. Merlin I expect you to be in my chambers early tomorrow. I need you to prepare me for a trip. Well, a little more than a trip."

"A trip?" his manservant was a little surprised but Arthur didn't blame him. Before Tyler had turned up there had been no mentions of Arthur leaving the castle, not even to go hunting.

Arthur continued talking, even though Gaius' expression told him that he was excused. But he wished to talk to Merlin and he was the Crowned Prince of Camelot, so nothing that Gaius could do or say would make him leave, "Yes. There have been some reports on masses of sorcerers forming to make a meeting. I have to infiltrate the group and find out as much as I can."

For some odd reason, when Arthur had voiced what he was doing at this meeting, Merlin's face changed into pure fear. He looked like the world had crashed down on him. Arthur noticed that Merlin's knees started to knock, something that Arthur had constantly teased him about when he got scared. But why would Merlin react in such a way. Unless he was scared for Arthur.

Even Arthur was scared for himself. He was going to practically walk into enemy territory and be at the sorcerers' mercy.

"I-I'll be there tomorrow." Arthur couldn't comprehend at why Merlin kept glancing back at Gaius in dread. Maybe it was something he had done. But Merlin probably wasn't going to explain then and there, he would have to catch them unaware.

"You'd better, or that shirt will quickly be covered in rotten vegetables."

Arthur pushed open the door and walked out in his usual princely manner. But when the door closed behind him he immediately crept back. The many years of hunting had paid off, for he was as quiet as a mouse.

"Gaius-" Merlin's voice drifted through the door. It sounded like he was pleading.

"Wait." Arthur heard footsteps coming to the door and he leapt back as if he had been stung. Sprinting away, Arthur realised that the conversation between the Physician and his ward would be completely private for there was no way that he could eavesdrop without being caught.

He laid on his bed once he got back into his chambers, wondering what could of happen between Merlin and Gaius for them to act in such a way.

* * *

Merlin shook slightly, wondering whether or not he should have told Gaius of his idiocy. Now that he had time to think about what he had done, and without Magnar breathing down his neck, he realised what a damn idiot he had been. Magnar, Merlin now realised, was a sleazy, charismatic sorcerer that now had Merlin wrapped around his long, slender fingers. But the offer of leadership had felt so right at the time, like destiny had leaded him to that position. Or was it just Magnar twisting his thoughts to how he wanted them? He didn't know. But Merlin didn't know many things now.

But what scared him the most was Gaius' expression as he sat across from him.

Or perhaps it was the fact that Arthur would be coming to the very meeting that Merlin was going to lead. If Arthur found out that he was even there for starters, well, Merlin shuddered at the thoughts. One day Arthur would find out about his gift and Merlin planned it to be a time where there is peace between them, but if Arthur saw him in a massive group of sorcerers that are bent on killing him? Merlin wouldn't have the chance to say that he was innocent, and the best thing to happen to him then would that Arthur only banishes him from Camelot.

"What were you thinking boy?" Gaius' voice was low and husky.

Merlin tried to laugh but it came out as slightly hysterical, "I don't know. You know me, Gaius, I never think."

"WELL YOU HAVE PROVED THAT NOW!" Merlin had never heard Gaius in such a rage. Frightened of what could come next Merlin intervened with what he had said before.

"It's done. I cannot change it now. Magnar will probably have already told every sorcerer in Camelot about me."

Gaius took a step towards Merlin, who responded by jumping back, "About you? Are you an idiot! All Arthur needs is your name and you will be dead before you can say 'I'm an idiot!'."

"But Arthur doesn't know my name is Emrys."

"Emrys?" Gaius' frowned disappeared, to be replaced with one of confusion.

Seeing a lifeline being thrown out to him, Merlin enthusiastically replied, "Yeah. It's the name most sorcerers know me by. If I keep my hood on Arthur will never know it's me. Oh, and if I change my voice slightly."

Gaius was silent for the moment, "And the sorcerers?"

"What about the sorcerers?"

"What are you going to do? You're the leader of a bunch of people that can destroy you in seconds if you don't do as they hope, if you are not the leader that they hoped you to be."

At this Merlin frowned, "Oh, I'll...um...I will think of something. Improvise, you know. I'll...I'll think of something."

"And if you don't?"

"I'll...grab Arthur and teleport us to another world and we will call the patch of sand that we land on Albion and he can conquer it by sticking a flag in the sand," Gaius didn't laugh, "You know me Gaius, I think of something!"

Gaius didn't say anything for a minute and Merlin became afraid that he might do something to prevent him going to the meeting. But Gaius suddenly walked past Merlin, telling him one last thing;

"The Leech Tank needs cleaning." And then he walked out the door.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Merlin recognized that Gaius had accepted that there was nothing he could do to change matters. It had to run its course now. But maybe he could have given Merlin a little bit more advice. Or maybe there was no advice that he could give.

* * *

Night fell, and everyone fell asleep, some more fitful than others. Arthur dreamed of the disguise for the meeting. Gaius dreamed about Merlin's execution. Merlin dreamed of being a leader. Uther dreamed of his kingdom falling. Tyra dreamt of her name in her history book. Gwen dreamt of nothing, for she had been kept out of the calamity that had struck the castle.

And Morgana woke up screaming.

* * *

When Merlin woke up, Gaius was not in his chambers. There was a note for Merlin, saying that Gaius was tending to some patients and that Breakfast was in his store cupboards.

After a cold breakfast of bread, Merlin sprinted to the kitchens; to get Arthur's meal, and then to Arthur's chambers, where a grumpy prince was waiting for him.

"Did I miss the stocks, _sire?" _Merlin asked teasingly.

Poking at his breakfast Arthur replied, "Yes. But now Merlin I need you to prepare me for this trip I talked to about yesterday."

Merlin jumped slightly, "How long?"

"Prepare me for, well, three days."

Nodding, Merlin thought he could sneak in a few questions without it being too nosey and if Arthur notices that he is acting strange it wouldn't be a first.

"Three days? It's that how long you will be gone? Where are you going? Are you taking me?"

In actual fact, Merlin already knew the answer to most of those questions but it would look suspicious not to ask them.

Arthur looked up from his food, which he showed no intention of eating. That was odd, because normally he would scoff it down.

Merlin stared at Arthur in the eye, trying to look completely innocent. His master looked at him up and down, as if trying to probe into his thoughts. Finally Arthur stood up and closed his chamber door, something that a certain servant had forgotten to do.

"Do you promise me Merlin not to tell a single soul bout what I am about to tell you?"

"Not even Gaius?"

"Not even Gaius."

Merlin could tell when Arthur was completely serious about something. His tone would change to a deeper voice and his shoulders would hunch up.

"Yes," what else could he say?

The warlock's master relaxed and walked back to his table, where his meal was rapidly cooling.

"Three days worth of clothes and food is only a precaution. I will hopefully only be gone one night, if I don't run into any trouble. I am going to a place that will have a few sorcerers and such. I need to spy on them."

_How cryptic, _Merlin thought. Arthur didn't even mention the place that he was going. And Merlin knew that there would be a lot more sorcerers than just a few. Obviously Arthur was trying to get Merlin to be less scared for him, something that was failing miserably.

"And no Merlin, I cannot take you."

He had been excepting that, but it was still easy to fake hurt and surprise.

"Why not?"

"As much as I love your annoying company and for you to do all of my cooking and cleaning and whatever else I need you to do it is really too dangerous for you, or even one of my knights to go and-"

If Merlin had really been in the dark about everything that was going on around him he would have complained until his face was blue. He would have complained that he had been everywhere with Arthur. He would have complained that Arthur was being a prat because he is the heir to the throne of Camelot and therefore cannot die for the sake of Camelot. But Merlin was distracted by the fact that Arthur will be at the same place as Merlin whilst Merlin was doing something that can get him killed.

No drawing out now.

Merlin cut through Arthur, earning him a surprised look from the prince, "I'll get your things ready sire. When will you be going?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Merlin walked out of his master's chambers without saying anything. His heart was pounding fiercely and his head was throbbing. Leaning against the wall, Merlin tried to concentrate but images, the same images from his dreams kept flashing through his head.

_Pain. Loneliness. Accusations._

"Merlin?"

Arthur's voice cut through his daylight nightmares. The images faltered and disappeared. It was then that Merlin realised that he was holding his head, trying to push out the fears.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

Merlin lifted his head and tried to rearrange to portray that he was fine, "Yes, just slight headache. Nothing to worry about. I'll be off."

Merlin hurried down the corridor, leaving a bemused Arthur behind.

When he was out of Arthur's sight he ran.

* * *

The day past with Merlin trying to avoid his master and Gaius, hoping to avoid unanswered questions. Gaius was easy enough to avoid, he spent all day doing his rounds, but Arthur often would call him to do this job or that job. The chores he did were mainly focusing on the trip, but he still had to do his regular jobs. The overload of work was welcomed, for it gave him not chance to think about the next day and the days that would follow.

The clothes that Merlin packed for Arthur were superficial; the rest would be packed by Arthur and his father. He didn't comment when Arthur gave that instruction, something that would have raised Arthur's misgivings about his manservant. Merlin knew that the King and Prince would take extra care when deciding what Arthur should wear when he was at the meeting. Something that he would not be noticed in. He made a mental note to himself to see what Arthur would wear, so that it was easier to spot him in the crowd.

As he was packing for Arthur's journey, Merlin also packed for his own.

To be extra cautious Merlin decided not to wear a single piece of his own clothing. One neckerchief is all it takes for someone, namely Arthur or Morgana, to recognize him. With no money to spare, he used his magic to make gold coins appear out of thin air. After he gained a suitable amount of money he hurried down to the market.

The streets of Camelot were busy; the traders from other kingdoms had come in for their yearly trade. Whatever you wanted, you could buy when the traders were in town. It was just the question whether you could afford it.

With his gold coins, which Merlin knew would disappear within twenty-four hours; he bought three cloaks, three shirts and three pairs of pants, from a trader from Mercia named Andret. As Merlin didn't want anyone to see the connection between the cloaks and him, he erased himself from everyone's memories, a feat that cost him a lot of energy. Hopefully, the next day Andret would remember nothing of Merlin and only believe that some random thieves stole his cloaks.

The next object that Merlin need was food. No magic was needed to purchase these goods because Arthur had already put aside coins for Merlin. So he used all these coins, not to just buy food for Arthur, but for himself too. But Kay, the food-seller, did not need to know that.

He then saddled up two horses; Arthur's and one that he had just bought. Arthur's horse Tristian was a black, feisty horse, who, on many occasions, made Merlin resort to Magic to calm the best down. It would seem as if the horse hated the sight of the gangly man servant. The horse that Merlin just bought, from a trader who would soon believe that his horse was stolen by thieves, was a grey colour, which seemed to be tingled with silver making it mysterious and magical. Its mane was a pure, white colour that flopped over his eyes. It was quite a grand horse, almost fit for a king. He saddled both horses and left Tristian in the stables, ready for the next day. His own horse, which he named Lynelle**,** he led into the forest and he tied her with magic to a tree, making sure that no thieves could steal his fine horse.

Evening came and Merlin finished all of his jobs. He hurried back to his room, successfully dodging Gaius; who was admiring his clean leech tank. On his bed his spread out what he had bought.

The three cloaks that he got from Andret were made from a fine material, the same material that Arthur used for his cloaks. One of the cloaks was pitch black, one a deep blue colour and the last grey. Not happy with the grey cloak, Merlin used a little bit more magic to change it to pure white. The cloak seemed to shine in the darkness of his room, making it its own light source. He tucked the blue and the white cloak to the bottom of his bag, whilst putting the black cloak into his favourite hiding spot, under the loose board.

Merlin had bought himself three shirts. One was purple, which had cost him a small fortune of magic coins to buy; one was grey and the other black. He laid out the grey shirt on his chair and placed the other shirts with the cloaks. Two pants were a brown colour and the other silver and he selected to wear one of the brown ones the next day.

After finishing up his packing Merlin collapsed onto his bed, still fully clothed.


	5. Merlin to Emrys

**Chapter 5 – Merlin to Emrys**

The wind whistled, turned and tumbled down a green, plush hill, bringing with it the aroma of grass, plants and leaves. The sun beat down onto the path that may have taken, travelling from and to Camelot. But with the wind came the cold that would slither through the travel's cloaks and make them shiver with cold. Winter was on its way.

Just off the road was a small village. The people there were preparing for the winter, the older children minding their younger siblings as their parents stored away food and what they needed for the winter. Two small children, minded by an older girl who had a small toddler on her hip, were participating in their own tournament. They both wielded small sticks and would try and hit each other repeatedly, giggling and laughing at the same time. There seemed to be no end to their game, for whenever one would land in a position of weakness they would say that the other was cheating and get up again, to start all over again.

From the road, Merlin paused, looking in the direction of the children. He was on his horse, Lynelle, which he had collected it from where he had hidden it that morning. Lynelle hadn't moved and was very mellow to Merlin's touch, unlike the Prince's horse.

Breakfast with Gaius had been a very bleak affair. They both hadn't said much, except for a few words of advice. When Merlin had left the table to go clean up, Gaius just stared at him, his face blank but deep in thought. After hurry out of his Uncle's gloomy presence he had ran straight into Morgana, who was very frantic. He had asked her what was wrong, but she hadn't responded. Remembering the conversation that she had with Gaius, Merlin realised that she was frightened for the meeting. _We all are, _he had thought at the time.

After dodging Gwen, for Merlin knew that if he saw her he would get very emotional so it was better if he just avoided her, Merlin had ran up to Arthur's chambers. Upon entering he saw that Arthur still hadn't left his bed but was staring up at the ceiling. When asking what was wrong Merlin gain only a small response;

"Just nervous."

With his usual jokes, Merlin finally got Arthur out of bed and made for the cupboard in Arthur's chambers. Inside, there was a set of clothes that he had never seen before.

Merlin instantly knew that the set of clothes was what Arthur would wear today at the meeting. Dark blue pants, some regular boots and a brown shirt, Merlin knew that Arthur would loathe looking like an everyday peasant, or in this case, an everyday sorcerer. Looking deeper into the cupboard, Merlin could also make out a long brown cloak until Arthur pulled him away. Arthur then had ordered him to collect his horse and any other job that he could have thought of, that had nothing to do with his chambers. But the cloak had been imprinted in his memory. He knew what to look for when the time comes.

_When the time comes..._

Merlin refused to think any further.

When Merlin had finished his jobs, he followed Arthur like an obedient puppy to the courtyard. According to court, Arthur was leaving for a solo hunting trip but Uther, Arthur, Gaius and Merlin knew a different story. It had turned out that Gaius had been told by Uther where Arthur was going. Arthur's last comment to him rang in his head.

"Enjoy your days off Merlin. See you soon and try to miss me. I know you want to."

Merlin had given Arthur a goofy smile and hit his horses, so that it went flying out of the courtyard. Shaking his head Merlin walked out of Camelot and to his horse. That was when the journey had begun.

Camelot was now out of his sight and Merlin had allowed himself a short pause to observe the countryside. The two children were still playing, and the shorter one had won another 'round'. Their older sister called out to them to be careful but they just poked her tongue at her. She had let go of the toddler now, who was racing towards the fighting. She called out to the toddler but was ignored. The two children stopped their game for a moment and ran over to the toddler. Joining the, the girl lifted him up and then looked straight at the road.

* * *

She saw a man, sitting on the finest horse that she had ever seen. He wore a gray shirt and some rich looking pants. She knew that this was no peasant; she must be looking at a nobleman. The man was also wearing a cloak, which covered most of its body including his face. The cloak was black but through the folds she could see that this nobleman's skin was pale, almost white.

Something shifted beneath his cloak and the girl drew her siblings closer to her. Suddenly she became afraid of the man, whoever he was. Even though his face was covered with shadows she could still see piercing blue eyes, staring at her. Those eyes spoke power and, she might have been mistaken, longing. Grabbing her siblings she hurried them back to her parent's house, hoping to forget all about this mysterious, rich man.

* * *

Merlin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It had become a habit now, staring at all these small villages with their innocence and their naivety. How easy it must be to live a simple life, not fearing execution or betrayals from your best friend. He longed for it and was envious for those like the girl with her sisters and brothers. To have a large family was an unknown experience for Merlin.

But the girl's expression on her face when they had met eyes had thrown him. It was fear, for herself and her family. Merlin had never been treated with such an expression before but he imagined that if his secret was no longer a secret that would be the expression of many people in Camelot.

Turning away from the small village, Merlin continued on the road to the Southern Coast. It was midday and the Isle of the Blessed was only an hour away. If he squinted he could make out a long black line that was the sea.

He pushed the horse into a canter, mindful of how much time till night fall.

* * *

Arthur sat down, facing the direction of the Isle. He had got to his destination earlier than expected. The sun beat down into his resting spot, lighting the small glade so much that it almost hurt to look at the golden leaves, blown around Arthur's feet. Even though the sun gave a little warmth, the harsh winds chilled him to the bone. To journey to the Isle of the Blessed had been calm but now the sea's winds blew into his face, making his tousled hair even messier.

The resting spot that Arthur had chosen was only a thousand feet from the edge of the lake. A mist surround the Isle barred his view of the ruins. He was not the only one to have arrived early; there were about thirty other groups of sorcerers, witches, warlocks crowded around the lake's edge but more groups were slowly coming. With his adept tracking skills, Arthur had chosen a resting spot that gave view of everyone. It was quite near the path, yet up the nearest hill viewing the Isle and the surrounds with an almost bird's eye view.

His disguise was being worn; he had put it on just outside of Camelot and he settled down to wait.

Through the edge of the trees in the glade he could see a procession of people walking down the hill to the entrance to the Isle on the path. They came in groups, gossiping or looking around with a cool gaze. Arthur couldn't get over how most of the sorcerers looked alike; tall, skinny and with unblemished hands. But there were some who looked slightly out of place; they were harsh looking, and gawked at all of the other sorcerers. Most of the sorcerers came on horseback, trying not to draw attention that they were magical yet some used so much magic that it surprising that his father hadn't found out about this meeting without Tyler's help.

There was one that appeared on the path with a bang and a blast of fiery blue sparks, making a group of younger sorcerers jump back in fear. A group flew in, lighting the sky momentarily with flashes of red, blue and purple. On a game trail a wolf ran to the Isle, only at the last minute turning into a pale, grey-haired man.

And there some who just seemed to want to show off, something, in Arthur's eye, completely stupid in the current reign of his fathers.

Arthur watched as a group of portly witches toddled along the side of the path, getting pushed and shoved by more superior sorcerers. It reminded Arthur of the servants at home, but those weren't as chubby as these witches.

Looking away from the path Arthur watched the entrance to the Isle, the boats. There were about a hundred of them, all lined up. They looked like they could fit around five people each. No one had got onto them yet, because it was not sun down. Not just yet. But there was a man sitting on a chair next to the first boat. But Arthur couldn't see what he looked like because he was too far away.

Arthur waited and watched, looking for potential enemies. The sun slowly, but surely, faded into the distance.

When there was only half of the sun shining over the horizon, Arthur saw a man arrive on horseback. It seemed to Arthur at first, just another sorcerer but it was the man's horse that caught his eye. Something about the beast seemed magical yet Arthur could have sworn that he had seen the same horse in Camelot only a few days ago with one of the visiting traders. Would that mean that whoever this man was came from Camelot? It was a possibility, but Arthur could have been mistaken. The man wore a black cloak and a grey shirt with brown pants. He seemed to hold an air of dignity and grace, but on closer examination Arthur saw that it was slightly forced. He was holding the horse slightly clumsily as well, the reigns were too high. Arthur only noticed these things because he had been living in his father's Court for all his life and had been treated to sights of nobles and horses every day.

Arthur moved away from his clearing and closer to the path for a better look. He didn't know what drew him in to this man; he seemed no different for the many other powerful sorcerers he had seen today. As Arthur moved closer, he could see that the man's hood was up, making it impossible for Arthur to see his face. The man was looking down the hill, straight at the Isle. The sorcerers who had been following him close behind him moved around him and down the hill, ignoring him completely. The man didn't seem too fussed at that, unlike all of the other powerful sorcerers that Arthur had seen.

The man looked around him, confirming that he was alone on the path. Arthur realised that the man had no idea that he was being watched as Arthur had quickly ducked behind a tree. Suddenly the man got off his horse and from one of the saddle bags his pulled out another cloak, just this one was a royal blue colour. He laid this over the horse and started to untie his clasps around the black cloak. Arthur lent in for a closer look at the man's face.

But alas, the man had turned around to his horse just as he pulled off his hood. The only glance that Arthur got of this man before his put on the blue cloak was a tousled mop of black hair. Sighing, Arthur walked back to his clearing just as the man sped down the hill on his fine horse.

* * *

Merlin hurried down the hill on his horse, aware that there was little time left before the meeting started. All around him, in groups were sorcerers, warlocks, seers, others of his kind that he would have to take control of. They had spread out around the lake where the Isle was situated, in groups ranging from ten to two. The groups near the path looked at him as he flew by, but none recognized him. How could they? Most had never ever met Emrys, or Merlin.

He kept his eyes peeled for Arthur and Morgana but couldn't see them anywhere. That was good in one way; it meant that their disguises had worked well. Merlin didn't know if Arthur would recognize him. That would be the main test.

The edge of the lake slowly came up to Merlin, looking marginally different to what it looked like the last time that he was here. Instead of one measly boat with no oars there were hundreds of boats in a long line, tied up.

The path ended at the edge of the lake and Merlin dismounted. He led Lynelle to a tree and tied her reigns around the trunk, using magic to protect the horse. He then withdrew a small bag with long straps, which he put around his shoulders under his cloak. The nearest group of sorcerers looked at him curiously but he ignored them and walked over to the nearest boat, where he could see a slightly familiar face.

Magnar got up from his chair which he had placed near the first boat. Merlin approached him with care, this man had successfully bent Merlin to his wills before and Merlin was cautious that it wouldn't happen again. When Merlin got close to him Magnar fell into a deep bow, making Merlin feel very uncomfortable. He glanced around and saw the same group of sorcerers that were looking at him before whispering and glancing between each other.

A slight cough from Magnar made Merlin turn back again.

"My Lord, Emrys. I am so glad you have arrived."

With all the confidence that he could muster Merlin replied, "Yes. I am here now."

Smiling widely, Magnar grasped Merlin's arm. He couldn't help noticing that Magnar's grasp was a little harder than normal, almost squeezing him. Magnar lead Merlin to the nearest boat, which Merlin noted that it was the finest and the most cleanest.

"Come, my lord. We will travel to the Isle together, and there you can make the Call."

"The Call?" Merlin asked. Magnar and Merlin jumped in a boat which, with a quick word from Magnar, started to move unguided to the Isle. Merlin shuddered at the memory of him trying to make the boat go faster, wondering if Gaius was still alive, and with the thoughts that he would probably die very soon.

"Yes, the Call is pretty much the start of the meeting. When the Call is made everyone will come to the Isle. When they come they will create circles around the altar with their own conjured up chairs. Then you will step into the middle and call _'se gemōt sculan beginnan'. _And thus, the meeting will begin."

It hit Merlin then how little he knew of the meeting and started to pester Magnar on more information, everything that he could think of. Magnar smiled even more as Merlin asked these questions, giving all the information required.

"Sorcerers are split into three groups, but the definition of the groups is unknown. You have the weakest or the least trained sorcerers in one group. The live on the fringes of sorcerer society. Some of the other sorcerers fear that they may betray but normally they are too scared of most of the other sorcerers to do anything. Then there are the most powerful ones. They often extract revenge on Uther and Camelot by themselves, but none have succeeded, yet. Something to do with some protecting them," as he said that he gave teasing glances to Merlin and Merlin went red. He realised that some of the sorcerers would know him by his terrible deeds, his reputation would be slightly broken in some circles.

That wouldn't bode well at all. Magnar, probably sensing his distress spoke to him, "Merlin." It was the first time that Merlin had ever heard Magnar say his true name. The shock of it almost made Merlin fall off the boat.

"You needn't be afraid of your past deeds. Only a few know of the connection between Merlin and Emrys."

Merlin shook his head and Magnar sighed. He continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted:

"And the last group is like the middle group, the average sorcerers. Mostly made up of Druids, when these people join in force it is almost as bad as some of the powerful ones."

Merlin asked quick question, full of curiosity, "And which group would you be in Magnar?"

Magnar just smiled and commanded the boat to stop. They had reached the Isle now, and Magnar helped Merlin out of the boat. They walked through to the centre of the Isle, the place that had so many bad memories for Merlin.

He looked around, remembering everything that had happened to him on this Isle. He broke away from Magnar's grip, who was trying to lead him to the altar. The grass was mostly wet ad beautiful but there was on part that was not, the part that Merlin was drawn to. A small patch had died, leaving only brown dirt. This was the place which Nimueh had died. Shuddering he turned away, facing Magnar again. The look of the other man's face was almost, Pitying? Merlin couldn't understand why he would feel like that.

Shaking all thoughts of Nimueh Merlin walked back to Magnar. Without commenting, Magnar turned to the altar.

"Your Charm." Merlin knew what Magnar was talking about it. Slowly he withdrew the Charm from inside his bag. Magnar stared at it for a moment, not taking it.

"Place it on the altar and repeat the following words_; ic ābiddan se gemōtstede tō bēon ful. _Then they shall come."

With a quick glance at Magnar, Merlin stepped up to the altar and gradually placed the charm in the middle of the altar. The sunset glinted on the shield and Merlin wondered, not for the first time, what the rose and the star of the charm meant.

Well aware that Magnar was watching him Merlin chanted in the most powerful voice he could make;

"_Ic ābiddan se gemōtstede tō bēon ful!"_

The charm shone, lighting up the Isle. Merlin could almost imagine every person surrounding the Isle turn to the centre. Somewhere in that crowd would hopefully be Arthur. The last rays of sun disappeared over the horizon.

Merlin heard the sounds of hundred of sorcerers getting to their feet as one. At Magnar's suggestion he walked over to the side of the centre of the Isle. There, hidden, he waited for _them _to come.

* * *

Just as the last specks of sunlight passed, Arthur saw a great light flash out of the fog. He jumped in surprise and looked towards the lake. As one all the sorcerers got up and started to walk to the boats. Arthur hurried to the path and started to follow hundreds of cloaked figures and uncloaked figures down the hill and to the boats. He blended in well; nobody gave him a second glance. His clothes didn't arouse suspicion where in Camelot the guards would stop anyone who looked as he did. His face was covered in the hood of the brown cloak that Merlin saw this morning. It was just bad luck that Merlin had seen his disguise this morning, because nobody was meant to see it. It didn't really matter though; it wasn't like Merlin was here to tell any other sorcerers about him.

Arthur often got pushed out of the way for another sorcerer. If he was in Camelot he would have complain but he was in unfamiliar territory and he could not drawn attention to himself. He also moved to the back of the rapidly growing group. The sorcerers and he lined up, just behind the first boat, where a witch stood. Arthur realised that this was actually the second boat, the first one taken by someone else. But he hadn't seen who that was.

The sorcerers that had lined up were let through to the boats in groups of five by the witch. Arthur watched as the first five sorcerers were led to the first boat. They each showed the witch their invites, their charms. The shortest among them got into the boat, shifting to the front most part of it. The next four then followed on. The witch that had seen their charms muttered a quick word and the boat started to head for the Isle.

The process would repeat over and over again. Arthur hadn't realised at first though, that there were more lines like his all around the Isle. All around the Isle boats started to float into the mist, all of their own accord.

When the time came for Arthur to get in he stepped forwards with five others. The person in front of him in line was a female. She wore a hood and a green cloak so Arthur couldn't see her face. Ignoring her Arthur pulled the charm out of the bag that he had slung around his neck and showed it to the witch. She nodded and let him though.

It seemed that Tyler was telling the truth that this would let him in.

Arthur was third in his group of five and stepped into a boat after the witch with the Green cloak. He sat down and two other people step in. To his surprise the boat didn't rock at all when the others got in. It seemed unnaturally calm. The witch spoke and now that he was close Arthur could hear what she said:

"_āstyrian."_

The boat started to move towards the Isle.

Through the mist Arthur could see the ruins come up ahead. The place was beautiful in its crumbled state. The air breathed with silence, even though there were hundreds of people in the vicinity. Arthur had never really been around magic in his life so he couldn't describe the feeling that he felt when he breathed the air of magic. It felt like an untamed force, powerful, but untrained. Who knew how many spells had been cast around this Isle.

The ruins became closer and closer by the second until they were just above him. Arthur became aware that his companions were getting out of the boat so he followed them. He followed them through arches and broken stones. The grass squished under his feet and still it was silent. He shuddered and drew his cloak around his tighter, earning him an odd look from the person behind him. He cursed; he could not draw attention to himself.

After a short walk he came across a sight that he wouldn't forget until the day he died.

Here the stones and walls formed a circle surrounding an altar. The altar seemed to be glowing brightly, something on it was lighting up the area. It was open to the sky so a cold breeze blew in, the stars could not been seen amongst all of the mist. What caught his eye was the amount of sorcerers surrounding the altar. They formed circles, around circles, around circles. Most of them sat on chairs that they had obviously conjured up. There were countless rows of chairs but each chair was different. Arthur could see a sort of pattern emerging from them. The first few rows' chairs were exquisite masterpieces. Even though he had little knowledge about magic Arthur could imagine how much power these chairs must have taken up from their conjurer. It was obvious then to Arthur, that the more beautiful and complicated the chair, the more power you had. Around the outside of the circles he could see some sorcerers with nothing more than a simple stool and some with no chair at all.

Arthur walked around the outside of the circles, looking for a place where he could see lots. When walking around he saw an interesting fact.

About halfway between the Altar and the surrounding wall was a patch of dead grass. Where the dead grass was nobody stood or sat but the people around it looked curiously at it. It would seem as no one knew what had happened here. And even though it would distract him slightly, Arthur made it his mission to find out what had happened.

Arthur soon found a good spot to stand, it on the opposite side to where he had entered. He could see the altar clearly from where he was and he could rest against the wall if he got bored. But he knew he wouldn't get bored, his senses were on high alert. Unconsciously, his hand drifted to where he had hided his sword under his cloak.

After a minute of standing still, the last of the sorcerers had entered and taken their places. A change went over the crowd, nobody breathed.

Behind the very wall that Arthur had contemplated leaning against a man stepped out.

It was the same man that had intrigued Arthur before, the man with the blue Cloak. The man walked past him and started to walk through the crowds, towards the altar. Everyone's attention focused onto him.

Arthur still wondered if he had ever met this man before, there was something about him that seemed familiar. But he couldn't put his finger on it.


	6. The Isle of the Blessed

**Chapter 6: The Isle of the Blessed**

Heart beating wildly, Merlin stepped out from behind the wall. This was it, the moment that he had been dreading slightly. Merlin was not used to attention, he didn't like it, but he would have to put that fear away if he was to have any chance at making peace. He couldn't afford to stumble over words or appear weak. He would have to prove that he is fit for leadership. And to do that Merlin would have to leave all thoughts of Gaius, Arthur and Morgana behind. It would be hard but Merlin had thought of a way to help him.

He would leave Merlin behind and become Emrys.

Whilst he had been riding Merlin had thought up a personality for Emrys, how he dresses and how he talks. Confident, strong and fearless, that was what he was aiming for. The way he walked change, the way that he thought changed.

Merlin was left behind.

Emrys stood up straight and started to walk forwards. A small gap had been formed between the chairs in front of him, making it easy to walk. Emrys looked around, taking in everything.

He could see the circles of Sorcerers, all facing the altar. They would be his enemy and his friend, helping him and hating him. Around the back of the circles of chairs was a circle of people standing in the shadows. A silence had come over everyone, and they all looked towards him. The stars, who had been Emrys friends and hope, could not been seen though all the mist. Did that signify that there was no hope for Emrys at all?

_There will always be hope. _It didn't bode well for Emrys to be thinking such negative thoughts before the meeting had even started. Well aware that everyone was watching him Emrys walked up to the altar and turned to face on side of the circle.

The sorcerers all looked at him expectantly and, Emrys could see in some faces, judgingly. His charm, which was still placed on the altar shined silver and lit up Emrys' face.

Emrys glanced around at the sorcerers once more, looking for any face he could recognise. He saw Magnar sitting in the first row, a mocking smile on his face and at the back of the crowds was a man with a long brown cloak.

Emrys...Merlin almost gasped, his concentration fell for two seconds but his pushed Emrys back into his mind. Arthur was here, he had come.

Suddenly aware that he had been quiet for a little while, Emrys turned back to the altar his heart beating even more loudly. Just as Magnar had instructed him Emrys placed his hands over the charm. It was warm, pulsing under his hand. The light had been somewhat blocked by his hand.

With a clear voice he chanted loudly, "_Se gemōt sculan beginnan!"_

The charm glowed even more brightly, and it warmed under his skin. A shot of white light slipped past Emrys' hand and when straight up. When it got up to the height of the walls surrounding the Isle it branched out into a big dome. There it sealed everyone in, the meeting had begun.

Emrys took his hands off the charm and turned around again. The change in the sorcerers was clear, they had become more relaxed. They weren't one whole group now, but many different groups each with their social class and leaders. Emrys now had some sort of control over them now. But that control wasn't very strong and it was Emrys goal for the first meeting to strengthen those bonds. Even though the sorcerers had relaxed slightly all the attention was still on Emrys. The leader took a deep breath and started to launch into a speech that he had been practicing since he left Camelot.

"Welcome, fellow sorcerers, sorceresses, witches, warlocks, seers and all manner of magic folk to this meeting," Emrys walked over and faced another part of the circle, away from Arthur, "We have come here negotiate the return of magic to the Kingdom of Camelot and the rest of Albion," taking a few steps in another direction, Emrys then changed the subject, "I am, as some might know, Emrys."

Another change when over the crowd, some of them whispered to each other, pointing and looking at him. Emrys risked a glance over in Arthur's direction. He seemed to have changed his posture slightly, leaning in instead of hiding. Turning back Emrys was met with the glare of another sorcerer who had stood up. This man was tall but wide, showing off large muscles which were not common in sorcerers. He wore a long cloak like the rest of his kind and it was expensive. His chair was just like a throne, grand and tall. The people surrounding him lent into him, almost grovelling. This man was a leader of some sort. In his mind, Emrys heard Magnar speak to him telepathically.

_This man is Griffith; he is high ranked, just below you. He is powerful and has tried to kill Uther in the past. _As much as Emrys didn't trust Magnar he admitted to himself that the information was very useful even though Magnar had to enter his mind to give this information.

"Yes Griffith?" Griffith face didn't change when Emrys showed that he knew who he was.

"My Lord. I wish to speak," Griffith's words were underlined with mockery. Emrys realised that this man would have become the leader of the sorcerers if Emrys hadn't jumped it. Though the situation was precarious, Emrys nodded, allowing Griffith the address everyone.

"I wished to speak not about the return of magic, but about you Emrys. How is it that a man, who has never been to a meeting before, landed himself in such a position? Is it because of his power? Personally I don't trust him; he could be working for the Tyrant King, Uther! Who is the man behind the cloak?"

Everyone was whispering and Emrys felt his control slipping but he waited until Griffith finished his little speech, his arms crossed and leaning against the altar. When Griffith asked who was behind the cloak he answered.

"I will answer your questions-yes! I will answer them all. I will tell you what you asked and if it is not enough then don't ask for more. I will tell you what I want to be told. Don't interrupt!

"How, you ask, did I land myself in this position? The answer is in Magnar," Emrys gestured to the man who slightly stiffened, his smile gone, "Two days ago I was minding my own business, doing my daily chores when Magnar appears telling me of this meeting. Interested I accepted everything, and he offered leadership. That is how I came to be here right this moment. The next question of yours I can answer but cannot answer all of it. The answer that I will give is I have no idea why I got this position.

"And though it is not a question, I will state before you that I am not working for the King Uther. If a word comes that I am; they are lying."

Emrys had walked one and a half circles around the altar, looking at everyone. He could see in their faces that they revered him slightly for standing up to Griffith.

_Memories of Merlin standing up to Arthur flashed in his mind. The stocks, the mace. Emrys wavered and Merlin grew again. _

He pushed down the memories again, forgetting them. He was Emrys now, not Merlin. Merlin would only return once Emrys had gotten him out of this mess. In front of him, at the back of the group, was Arthur.

Their eyes met.

* * *

Arthur stared at Emrys, taking in the man. How ironic was it that the very man he thought he recognized, the very man that drew him in; was the very man that he was ordered to kill? Ordered to kill if war was the way that the sorcerers decided. The other powerful sorcerer, what was his name? Griffith? Was quite right to ask what was behind the hood. He only knew that this man had black hair, and he wanted to know more.

But Emrys didn't seemed to want to reveal much of himself, even drawing other people like Magnar in to cover up his choices. That confused Arthur and he wanted in anticipation to Emrys answer to the question; Who is the man behind the mask?

For a moment, when Emrys was looking at him, Arthur thought that this leader recognized him. They looked at each other and Arthur couldn't help shake the feeling that Emrys was looking further than his brown cloak, like he was looking into his soul and his mind. He looked a moment longer and then turned away.

Emrys spoke, "Who is the man behind the cloak you ask? I am a man, which you already know. I am young. I have another life, apart from magic, which is why I wear this cloak. My other life has friends, a job, a home and I don't wish to jeopardize my other life. I have black hair and blue eyes. I am tall. But these descriptions are superficial.

"Inside, yes, I am powerful. How powerful I don't know. I don't know my limits; I don't know anything about my magic. I am power. I was born with magic."

The last sentence that Emrys made, made the whole room jump. Arthur had never heard of a born sorcerer before, and by the looks of it neither had all of the other sorcerers before. Most of them leapt to their feet, shouting and pointing to Emrys, who seemed unfazed by the proceedings. Yells filled the rooms;

"He lies!"

"_That's impossible!"_

"_What!" _

Arthur was sorely tempted to cover his ears but he didn't. Looking around he saw one witch near him that hadn't responded to anything, but was standing rock still. It was the witch that had stood in front of him when he was getting into the boats. The one with the green cloak. He could see a long lock of black hair trailing out, but that was all he could see. Tearing his eyes away from the little witch, Arthur looked back at Emrys. Again Emrys was watching him, not noticing the many people screaming at him. Arthur shuffled back slightly, trying to hide in the shadows of the wall. Something shifted under Emrys' cloak and Emrys lifted his hand.

Silence descended over the Isle.

* * *

Emrys turned away from Arthur and faced Griffith again. He spoke into the silence, "Believe what you will, I am not lying. But enough about me, we have joined this meeting for a reason and we must begun to plan."

_Good one Emrys, _Magnar's voice appeared in his head and Emrys had to physically stop himself from starting, _Ask for the following people's opinions; Breri, Tryamon, Griffith and Rion._

Emrys realised than the Magnar was practically controlling him, _Why should I? _He shot back with his mind.

_Because Breri wants a peaceful way to return magic, Tryamon wants to capture Arthur and use him to control Uther, Griffith wants to kill Uther and Arthur and destroy the people of Camelot and Rion is powerful but undecided._

A though struck Emrys, _How do you know this? _

Magnar replied, _I talked with them. _

Realising that he had been standing there for ten seconds without talking he shook his head and straightened.

"Breri!" he called. A man that was a quarter a way around the circle from where Griffith was, stiffened and stood up. Emrys walked away from Griffith to stand in front of Breri.

"My lord," Breri sunk into a low bow, shaking slightly. Emrys noticed all this and wondered why he was so afraid.

"Breri, how do you stand and what are your opinions on the return of magic to Camelot?"

Breri was quite a small man; it looked like one small push would make him fall over. He also looked quite terrified at something behind Emrys. He kept glancing to that area and stuttering over his words. Emrys turned around and caught Griffith glaring at Breri. He realised that Breri was scared for his life by disagreeing with Griffith.

"You needn't fear Breri to what you say. You are under my protection. I will not let any harm come to you," Emrys turned back to the small man and then spoke in the Old Religion, "_Beorgan hine__fram bealo, _protect him from harm." It would seem that Breri had little self-confidence, destroyed by Griffith.

Breri bowed low again in thanks and when he spoke it was somewhat calmer, "I wish for a peaceful resolution to our problem. There has been enough bloodshed for twenty years. Uther is a blind man; he cannot see the beauty of magic. Nothing will change his mind. But what about his son? Arthur Pendragon has only seen the bad side of Magic, the side where some sorcerers," Emrys caught a quick glance at Griffith, "use magic to destroy in foolhardy plans to destroy everything. Maybe we wait till he is King and then aim for a peace treaty. That way there will be no pain."

Breri then noticed how much attention was on him and sat down quickly. A moment passed, and then another sorcerer, near Griffith, spoke up.

"And Arthur would just accept the peace treaty! Like that would happen. He will kill us all! Or betray us!"

Breri stood up again. Emrys noted that even though he was scared of the more powerful among the sorcerers he would fight for his cause strongly, "That is why we need someone in Uther's Court, someone close to Arthur, and hopefully a magic user, to teach all about the goodness of magic. That way he would be ready when Uther dies and he takes the throne!"

The other sorcerer who spoke up before replied hotly, "Oh and when will that be? So much for 'no bloodshed' if you kill Uther!"

Breri let out an exhausted sigh, "But we don't kill Uther, we let him die of natural causes!"

"And how long will that take! The balance of the world is falling because of the lack of magic in Camelot!"

During this argument Emrys had moved around the altar again, unnoticed by all. He was now leaning against the altar, staring at Arthur. From the distance between them, Emrys tried to judge how he was feeling about all the talking between the sorcerers about him. But knowing Arthur, he would try and block all emotions from his body, concentrating on his task. His task of spying. How much Arthur must feel that he is failing, with the leader staring at him all of the time. Hopefully he will not leave or give up; Emrys would need all the help that he could get.

As the balance of the world is mentioned Emrys decides to intervene, the meeting could go on forever if they continued like this, "Hush."

Both of the sorcerers in the verbal war looked at Emrys in shock, "What?"

Emrys moved around the altar again, "That is enough for that argument; we must hear all points of views. That point can continue later. Sit down, please."

They both sat and everyone looked to Emrys is a slight state of shock.

_Well done Emrys, _Magnar's sly voice appeared in his head, _you have done a first. Normally the leader doesn't interrupt, or joins in the argument till the cows come home!_

Ignoring him, Emrys walked around to Tryamon. According to Magnar this is the one that wants to use Arthur; Emrys gave the brown hooded figure a quick glance. Tryamon didn't wear a cloak and was, well, beautiful. Her hair was red and long, it fell down around her face in long wavy locks. Her lips were blood red and her eyes grey like the mist surrounding the Isle. She wore a long red dress and bare feet. When Emrys asked Magnar what her power was he had responded that she was a seer. But Emrys couldn't see any black lines under her eyes like the one Morgana had.

"Tryamon? Your views?" She smiled and stood up.

"My views, my lord Emrys, are quite simple. Uther loves his son. We capture his son. We use him against Uther. Uther will bend to our will. Camelot will be ours. No unnecessary bloodshed." At that she took a quick glance at Breri, who was studious looking at his fingernails.

Everything was silent, nobody stood against Tryamon's views. That troubled Emrys slightly but he moved on. He supposed it was unavoidable that he asked Griffith his views.

"Griffith?" This time, instead of walking towards who he addressed Emrys kept his distance, unconsciously hovering towards Arthur.

"I think you already know my views, Emrys. Why you know where to ask the vital questions. Magnar keep you informed?" Magnar and Emrys stayed quiet.

"My Views are obvious. Twenty years ago, I had a daughter. Her name was Anna and she was the most beautiful little angel in the world. Yet the Great Purge started. The King's men came to our home, our sanctuary. Anna was one, my wife was with her. She was already showing signs of magic. The king's men came and killed her. I came home to see my home in flames, my wife and my child dead. They were searching for me and I fled. I came here and practiced my magic.

"I look back I see who was responsible for it all. Uther. Uther has destroyed our lives much too long. He had burnt us. Kill us! Hunted us down like animals! And we must fight back! Uther will pay! So we should march an army north to Camelot and watch it burn. Watch all those people who just sat back and let the killings happen. Watch as the King's brat, Arthur dies with his father watching. Watch Uther's tears. Watch Uther's death.

"Then Camelot will be ours and a new age will start. The age of sorcerers and magic users! If we follow my views Magic will return to Camelot!"

As Griffith had been talking the crowd had gotten more and more excited. Somewhere banging their feet on the ground whilst others, most in the direction of Tryamon and Breri, shook their heads. Now that his speech was finished the crowd became even noisier. Emrys was about to call for them to be silent when someone beat him to the punch.

"Quiet!"

Everyone stopped, looking towards Emrys, but a shake of his head showed that it was not him that had spoken. Emrys looked around and saw a tall figure in a long green cloak walking forwards towards the altar. She had come from somewhere near Arthur. The green figure wore a blue dress underneath and her hood was up so no one could see her face.

She walked tall and confidently, like a real noble. As she closer and closer to him a growing pit of dread started to form in his stomach. He could recognize her anywhere even though her face was hidden and her voice changed.

_Gaius. Help me._

* * *

Arthur watched as the witch that had stood near him walk forwards. A part of him wanted to walk with her, to make sure that she wasn't so alone but he restrained himself, knowing that he couldn't draw attention to himself. If Griffith found out who he was, then he would be in _big _trouble. And that was an understatement.

As much as he hated to admit it, Griffith scared him slightly. The heavy muscled man obviously knew how to use a sword and Arthur had no idea how good he was at it. It also probably didn't help that this man was probably also a powerful sorcerer.

It had surprised Arthur how organized the sorcerers were. He had always imagined them to be a squabbling group who would attack each other at any time. But Emrys seemed to hold their strings together, consciously or unconsciously. He could see what Tyler had meant when killing their leader would buy him more time. The group could not work without someone in charge. Too many powerful people vying for the position.

Arthur was no seer but he could imagine what would happen if Emrys was to die. Griffith would quickly take control, trying to attract as many followers as possible. That was how the power plays worked here. There would be leaders under the main leader. These leaders would control a group of the sorcerers and try to persuade more to join them. Arthur could almost already see the groups forming but there was one puzzle piece missing. Arthur saw that about half of all the sorcerers had yet to decide where to join. Arthur also suspected that Emrys had one more mini-leader to address.

As the witch that was next to Arthur walked forwards he saw Tryamon shift in her chair. Arthur didn't like Tryamon much, he didn't like to be controlled but he could admit that she was quiet pretty. He drew his thoughts away from her.

All of Camelot's hope rested on Breri's point. That would be the easiest to counteract. But Arthur still shuddered at the thought of a sorcerer in his father's court trying to teach or maybe _show _the goodness of magic.

He watched the witch walk forwards and Arthur felt another stab of recognition but he couldn't think about where he might have seen her before. Emrys was also looking at her, well he supposed he was looking at her. It was hard to tell with his face hidden by a hood.

The woman's face was also hidden as she turned around. She had reached the centre now and everyone was staring at her. Emrys had finally stopped giving him glances, Arthur couldn't help but think that Emrys might have seen him for what he really was but he hadn't done anything yet, so Arthur stayed. The woman took a long breath and Arthur listened in.

"I am Morgan Le Fey."


	7. Morgan Le Fay

**Chapter 7: Morgan le Fay**

"I am Morgan Le Fay."

She wondered if she was being reckless by making her sorcerer name so like her own. But nobody would suspect Morgana, the king's loving ward, to be a seer would they? The only one who knew that was Merlin, and it wasn't if Merlin was here was he?

Everyone in the vicinity looked at her at once but she didn't trembled. She had spent most part of this meeting bracing herself for this moment. It was expected, as Morgana couldn't let her fiery and opinionated personality keep at bay. Emrys had been slightly disappointing, she hadn't expected someone who was a leader to be so, _mysterious _and quiet_. _But then, she judged, he was only testing the waters, seeing where the sorcerers' loyalties lie. Something that Morgana had failed to do.

Morgana also wondered whether anger had fuelled her determination. She wanted magic to return, it was unimaginably difficult to keep her magic secret in such a place like Camelot. But, though she harboured some hated from Uther, she didn't want Arthur and the rest of Camelot destroyed in the process. All those innocent people who had done nothing wrong in their life, to be killed by those like Griffith in their campaign for revenge.

She had the power to stop this, and she would try.

As she stepped up, next to Emrys, her thoughts whirled about the man standing next to her. Even though she was only an arm-length away from him, she still couldn't see into his face from behind the hood. It would seem that he didn't want to be found, to be taking such care to cover his face. She was too, because if anyone found out that she was the King's Ward, she would quickly be dead before she even got the chance to explain that she was a seer. But even if they didn't kill her, Tryamon's plan to use Arthur to get to Uther could easily be adapted to Morgana instead of Arthur.

That was why she took extra care in changing her voice and manner as she spoke her views.

She was about to start on something like 'It will not get you anywhere, you idiots, to squabble and beat your feet,' but she realised that it wouldn't be a very good start. Stifling her anger, Morgana reworded in her head what she would say.

Instead of anger, she started with a fact, "Time grows shot." Taking a small risk she mentioned what someone else, someone who argued against Breri, had said, "The Balance of the World is falling every second that we spend her quarrelling between each other!" She had little idea on what she was talking about, but she knew that it had the wanted affect; the sorcerers were paying her much more attention. Now was the time, hopefully, to place down her own views.

"Uther Pendragon is a feckless coward," in the corner of her eye she saw Emrys shift slightly, "But that doesn't mean that we should destroy innocent people for the hope of revenge. Surely the loss of his kingship is enough?" in front of her a man stood up hoping to object but she silenced him with her hand, "You hope for revenge for your own loss, which is highly understandable. But does that make it right and good for you to kill innocent people for the offensive deeds of one man?"

Everyone was silent, engrossed in her speech. She had not yet finished, now was the time that she would play the card that would hopefully spark some sorrow and guilt in the sorcerers. If they were capable of such emotions.

"I will now tell you a story. It is like Griffith's; it holds the same sadness, the same anger. This story is about a man. He is a simple servant in Camelot's Castle. He has a family that he loves dearly, two sons and one daughter and lives in the Lower Town with his wife. Their house is small and the wife becomes a seamstress to pay for their lives. All of their children are employed at an early age in the palace kitchens, paying for their food and clothing.

"Before this point in the story though, I will tell you of an incident that happened many years ago to the family that I have just described. The wife had a daughter, the most beautiful child that they ever let their eyes on. But that winter the child died because of the freezing weather that had taken over Camelot. Before the child died the family had pleaded with the King for more blankets to keep the chill out of the house. The King, as much as he wanted to help, could not because there was not a scrap of cloth anywhere.

"But when their child died they didn't blame the king. They just mourned and moved on with their life, not extracting revenge or anger. They _understood _the king; there were simply no clothes or anything to keep warm. They cursed fate, but not the king."

The sorcerers were shuffling slightly, understanding where she was coming from. She had struck a chord with them, better than Emrys could ever do. The man in question was leaning against the altar, tilting his head slightly in Morgana's way. She shivered, knowing that one flash of his eyes and she could be dead, never to know the outcome of this war.

She continued on her story, "Now back in present times, the man is minding his own business, working in the castle. There have been whispers of sorcerers and witches but he doesn't notice. He only hopes that his family will never be accused of witch craft because his family is innocent. Then one day, hell breaks loose in the castle. A group of sorcerers attack Camelot, causing chaos and misery. During the pandemonium, his children are killed."

Everyone was silent and Morgana hoped that they were interested in what she had to say instead of bored and hoping for her to step down. She risked a glance at the man, Griffith that she was about to defying loudly and clearly but his face was impassive, and the only signs of discontent were a small frown over his eyebrows.

"After the attacks are done, and the sorcerers took over Camelot, the man returns to his ruined home. He hates the sorcerers for what they did, but he could _understand_ the reasons behind it. Him, and a group of others, plot to give the throne back to the kings. Their plan doesn't involve bloodshed. They know that if they resort to war and fighting, many more families would be cut down. They _understand _that the people don't want any more loss and grief.

"So they trick the sorcerers out of the throne, and give it back to those who rightfully have. No loss and no pain."

Morgana finished the story and started on the explanation.

"Griffith's pain is just but his revenge is not," Griffith shifted slightly and his frown deepened, "The reason why Uther attacks us regularly is because he does not _understand_. But he will never, ever stop hating magic. Yet ignorance creates fear, and fear creates war between them. But Uther will never understand, he is blinded. Griffith does not understand the intention behind Uther's actions, and that makes him blinded by grief. And if you attack blind, more innocent people will die. Their families will become angry, blinded by grief and the cycle will start over again.

"We, as sorcerers, have the power to shatter and stop the cycle. That is why Breri's plan is a good and just one. No bloodshed and no grieving families to fear. That is the way that we should go to ensure our survival in a new age, The Golden Age."

"We must understand, we must make Arthur understand, we must make the people of Camelot understand. That way we can all live in peace and happiness with magic prospering with the people. If we destroy Camelot in revenge than those who have been wrong by us will fight back and revenge against. This must be stopped."

Morgana paused and looked around at the people's reaction. Breri was shining with hope, but was still glancing in Griffith's direction. Behind her Emrys had drawn away from her and was looking down onto his invitation, his blue cloak blowing in the slight breeze that had started. Not for the first time she wished that she could see his face, to have some idea on what he was thinking.

To her right was Griffith. His face was unreadable, but his eyes had an angry and dangerous glint in them. She shivered, hoping that her speech had not made him an enemy.

Knowing that her time in the spotlight was almost up she finished off expressing her views, "That is the path we should take. But who are you to listen to me? Emrys," the man looked up, "Tell us your views."

Emrys shifted slightly and then a hand came out from under his cloak and motioned for Morgana to go back to her original position. She smiled graciously and walked back to where she had been watching. As she walked back, many of the sorcerers turned around in their chairs to look and stare at her, and it was only when Emrys called for attention did they actually look to him.

Morgana smiled, she had placed Emrys in an uncomfortable position. Now was the moment that he would have to show whose side he was on.

* * *

Arthur straightened, interested in what Emrys would say about his views. He spared a glance in Morgan le Fay's direction, grateful that this witch had shown courage and defiance that would answer the questions of these hundred or so sorcerers. What did Emrys think?

For whatever he thought could help Arthur decide how hard it would be to kill the man. The way that this meeting was going, it seemed that his death would be the best way to go. But there was still a little hope. If Breri's and Morgan le Fay's views gain enough supporters there would be no need for Arthur to kill anyone. He didn't want to be controlled and enchanted into thinking that magic was good, but if he wanted peace that would be one of the only ways to go.

But Griffith and many others still wanted revenge, the return of magic too little for them. Arthur schooled his body expression into one of indifference, but inside his chest was thumping. Even if Breri wins and a peaceful way of returning magic is planned, there would still be some that would still want Uther's blood on their hands. Griffith seemed like one of them, he wanted revenge for his daughter. And from what he could hear from the two whispering witches sitting just in front of him, Griffith was a very powerful sorcerer maybe even the most powerful among them. Yet Tyler's words flashed through his mind, when she was describing Emrys to the king and him;

"_The most power warlock in the entire Albion. This is his first meeting ever, for the times before he had not yet learned spells and thus he was not counted as a warlock. There is a prophecy about him. That he is will be the one that returns magic to Camelot. Nobody has ever met this man. His name is Emrys."_

Arthur didn't understand the parts about prophecies and her prediction that Emrys will return magic to Camelot, but he could understand quite clearly when she said that he was the most powerful warlock in Albion. If her words were true, and Arthur was inclined to believe them now, then Griffith wouldn't win in a fight between them. If Emrys chose a peaceful resolution then Arthur's fear levels would drop slightly.

But there was always the possibility that he wanted revenge as much as Griffith and if that was to happen, Arthur would have to kill Emrys.

For a moment the powerful warlock just stood there, his head bowed in thought. The tension in the room was high; all were waiting for his response. Slowly, Emrys raised his head and spoke, for the first time, his opinions.

"I stand with Morgan le Fay and Breri."

A sigh escaped from between Arthur's teeth and realising what he did, he quickly snapped his mouth shut. But no one was looking his way. They were all whispering and muttering to themselves, hissing and darting looks towards Emrys. The man just stood silently and tall; his hood not moving, his hand clasped together.

The volume in the room rose slightly as the sorcerers went from whispering to talking. Finally, one man from Breri's side stood up and called over the noise.

"My Lord Emrys. I ask for a break to discuss matters with everyone."

Everyone became quiet and looked towards Emrys, who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Granted," Emrys was still for about ten seconds. With everyone watching walked over to the altar and pressed his hands onto his glowing invitation. A string of unrecognizable words came sprawling out of his mouth. The invitation dimmed slightly and the barrier of light surrounding the Centre of the Isle flickered in and out of existence, finally resting on being slightly more transparent. Emrys then spoke again.

"I have called for a break, which the length of which will be to my whim. You may walk anywhere on this Isle, but are forbidden to leave it. Thank you."

A dull murmur began as Emrys walked from the altar into Arthur's direction. His steps were confident as he drew nearer and nearer. Arthur shrunk back and moved away, into the shadows. Emrys only gave him a fleeting glance until disappearing into the crowds.

The two whispering witches in front of him stood up and moved into another part of the Isle. Arthur decided to move someone quiet, somewhere that he could collect his thoughts whilst the other sorcerers talked, agreed and disagreed. He walked away from the altar and to the edge of the Isle, where the lake started.

* * *

As Emrys moved in the crowds, they parted respectively, whispering and muttering. His didn't respond to them, his head was still full of thoughts about Morgana, or _Morgan le Fay _as she was now known.

Morgana had, once again, made her heart rule her head. It was one thing for the King's ward to turn up to a meeting like this, it was another to disagree with the second most powerful person in the area and express her own opinions. Emrys needed to warn her and talk to her. He couldn't let Morgana get killed or hurt, he would feel terrible if anything was to happen to her.

He moved out to the edge of the Isle where there was little people around. There was only a small bunch of seers and sorcerers, who moved away from him as he walked closer to them, and sitting at the edge of the lake, his brown cloak drawn around him was _Arthur. _

Emrys made his way closer to Arthur, throwing caution to the winds. He didn't know what willed him to talk to Arthur, but he wanted to. It felt, right.

This was the moment where it would be decided if he was a good actor.

* * *

Arthur watched the water flow with the wind. The wind was never still here, there was always a small breeze ruffling up his golden hair. His hair could not move tonight, though, it was all covered by his hood. He sat there at the Isle's edge, thinking about Morgan le Fay, when he felt another presence behind him. The presence was just standing there and Arthur didn't show any inclination of talking. After a couple of moments, Arthur heard a sigh and the presence sat down beside him, looking at the lake.

Arthur didn't turn his head or show any welcoming, but he did glance at the person beside him slightly. With a shock he realised that the man next to him was Emrys. The Leader.

He couldn't think as to why this powerful warlock would sit next to him, a simple 'sorcerer'. To Emrys, he would be just another of the many hundreds that he, to some extent, commanded. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Emrys broke the silence.

"Funny thing, wind."

Arthur almost kneeled over in shock. This sorcerer, this man who was prophesied (Whatever that meant) among his people, was talking to him about the _wind?_

And although he had sworn not to speak to anyone, Arthur felt compelled to reply.

"Why do you think so?"

"Because, young sorcerer, it had its mind of its own. It goes where it pleases and wants. It overcomes barriers and obstacles. It can be merciless and calm. It can destroy and make. And yet, it is not living. It is merely a small thing in the great world. A small factor in the makeup of existence"

Arthur had never really given anything these types of thoughts before, but thinking about it now he realised that Emrys was correct. It interested him, no fascinated him that a man such as Emrys perceived the world in such a way. But he knew little of this man and that would make it easier to kill him if it had to be done.

"I suppose," Arthur replied, lowering his voice just in case someone was listening.

Emrys didn't move and all was silent for a few more minutes until Arthur's companion spoke up again, "What do you think?"

"Hmm?" Arthur became wary.

"What do you think," Emrys repeated, "about the return of magic? About revenge? About Camelot?

Emrys was asking him? Arthur hadn't really formed definite opinions but he had a slight idea about what he wanted. He could hardly go and yell out what he wanted in front of everyone and he couldn't trust Emrys, not yet anyway. And Arthur couldn't feel anything for this man, because killing him would become so much harder.

Arthur ended up speaking the truth, careful not to reveal anything about who he was. Sometimes though, Arthur would get this uncomfortable feeling that Emrys could see straight through his disguise. But he tried to back away from these thoughts; if Emrys had found out who he was, he would be dead by now. It wasn't a comforting notion.

"I believe," Arthur started and Emrys turned his head slightly in his direction, "I think that Arthur, the king's son, should be taught about magic in a direct matter. It was like what Morgan Le Fay said, 'Ignorance will only cause pain.'"

"You speak wisely, my friend. That is what I was thinking when I made my decision as well," Arthur almost fell into the lake he was that surprised.

Arthur started to ask more personal questions of Emrys. If Emrys really thought this way there would be no need to kill him, right? He hated killing innocent men and even though Emrys isn't completely innocent, on the account of him being a sorcerer, Arthur could almost see a good man coming through. But that couldn't be right? Sorcerers are evil, _all_ sorcerers are evil.

However Emrys didn't seem to fit into the evil category at all. From the little that he knew about him, it would seem that all other sorcerers treat him with wariness. But he supposed that being the most powerful sorcerer in all of Albion did strike some fear in others.

They sat in silence a little while longer until Arthur remembered something odd about the Isle. It was the patch of burnt grass that everyone was interested in. And what a better way to ask the leader what happened?

"Emr- My Lord," Arthur remembered with a jolt that he was speaking to someone who was almost like a king among the sorcerers. He kept forgetting this as Emrys was so...normal and calm among people of lower class. Emrys tilted his head is his direction to show that he was listening, "I was wondering, my lord. What happen on this Isle that caused that patch of dead grass?"

Unexpectedly Emrys laughed, making a group of witches that was looking at us curiously jump and scurry away, "I am glad you asked me that. It is quite a tale. You will be the only one on this Isle, maybe except for Magnar, who will know the true story."

Arthur was very amazed, "Why do you give me such an honour?"

"Honour?" Emrys snorted slightly, "There is no honour in knowledge. Sometimes, most of the time, knowledge is painful. But I will answer. I have take quite a liking to you, even though you have not introduced yourself," Arthur opened his mouth to speak but Emrys put his hand up, "No, there is no need to say who you are. The value of silence is high in these times, for all. I will tell you the story now."

"There was once a very powerful sorceress. She was the high priestess of the old religion," Arthur did understand what Emrys meant but to speak up would show that he wasn't who he seemed to be, "She wanted to kill a man that lived in Camelot and she tried everything to kill him but nothing worked. That was because another sorcerer, a warlock to be precise, was protecting the man she was trying to kill. Enraged, she knew she couldn't kill the warlock because his powers surpassed her own. But even though he was powerful, the warlock was young and untrained. He had never ever met another of his kind that didn't want to kill him, that was the price for protecting a human.

"The sorceress found this out and sent a poisonous beast to kill this man. The warlock managed to kill the beast, but not before the beast managed to poison the man with his fangs. The young warlock took the man back to where he lived and tried to save him but the poison was one of a kind. In the end he had no choice but to go to this Isle and bargain a trade. His life, for the man's survival."

Arthur was staring at Emrys, who was looking out into the waters. He couldn't believe what Emrys was saying. Another sorcerer had swapped their life for a simple man?

"The young warlock travelled here, to the Isle of the Blessed, where he met the sorceress that wanted to kill the man. They spoke and the sorceress used her power as the High Priestess to draw water from the Cup of Life. If the young warlock gave the water to the man he would live and the young sorcerer would die. But she was careful in her words, making sure she never swore that the young warlock would be the one that would die."

Frowning Arthur made to interrupted but Emrys was too much into his story to notice.

"So the young warlock travelled back to the man and gave the water to him. Then he went to sleep, knowing that he would die that night. In the morning, though, he woke up fine and the man recovered. To the warlock's horror, his mother lay dying in his home. The sorceress had got a life for a life, but it wasn't the one that the warlock had intended. The man woke up fine now and spoke with the warlock. The man didn't know that the warlock could perform magic. When the man had left, the young warlock told everything that had happen to his Uncle, who was living with him. He went to bed, making plans to go to the Isle again the next day to trade his life with his mother's.

"But the next day the warlock found a note telling him that his Uncle had gone to trade his life for his mothers. Almost crying in despair the warlock rode a horse as quick as he could to the Isle. When he arrived the sorceress leaned over his Uncle, who was dead. Angry at the sorcerer for everything that happen, the warlock called up powers his didn't know he had. He slaughtered the sorceress. He ran to his Uncle that found that he was too late. Deep inside of him a power rose that he had never used before. With it, he brought his Uncle back to life. They returned home and found that his mother was well again."

Arthur really didn't know what to make of this story, it seemed so unrealistic. So much against the views of his father. Before this meeting he had believed that the sorcerers would never harm another of their kind and that they worked together to destroy Camelot and everything in it, but hearing this story and the views of Breri and many other sorcerers had changed him. Now he was confused.

"Does that explain the dead patch of grass?" he asked.

"Yes, that was where the sorceress was killed," Emrys replied, turning his head to look at Arthur.

The water lapped against the side of the Isle and Emrys stood. Arthur stood up with him but Emrys just shook his head.

"Stay; there is someone I wish to talk to. Then the meeting shall resume for a little while longer."

Arthur sat back down and watched as Emrys disappeared into the Isle.

* * *

Morgana tried her hardest to hide in the corner but that was a lost cause. It was hard to hide when she had just drawn so much attention to herself and in such a spectacular way too. A few of Griffith's supporters stood only a few feet away from her, whispering and pointing at her. She shifted slightly and moved her head in their direction but they didn't move away. If anything, they just stared at her harder.

She stood at the side of the circle around the altar, near where Emrys had entered. Most of the sorcerers around her had moved out into different parts of the Isle but many stayed. To her discomfort, most of Griffith's supports had stayed, including the man himself.

Griffith was standing in the middle of a midst of supporters, talking to them but Morgana could not hear what was being said. After a little while Griffith stood up and gave a very nasty grin in her direction. She shuddered involuntarily and took a step back. Griffith grin grew and after a quick glance around him started to walk in her direction.

A tremor of fear passed through her. The meaning of the glance suddenly became understood. Griffith meant to kill her, so she could never question and speak so against him ever again. And though she had some magic she was nowhere near powerful enough to defeat the likes of Griffith.

Nobody was around to save her; she had completely misjudged the situation. As Griffith walked up to her she squeezed her eyes shut. This was out of character for her but she was scared out of her mind.

"Griffith."

The word cut through her mind and she opened her eyes cautiously. In front of her was the back of a cloak from someone. Someone who was stopping Griffith from killing her. She tried to see who it was but she backed against the wall.

"Emrys."

Emrys? He was protecting her. But why would he do such a thing. Unless, she reasoned, it was because Emrys was on her side. He had said so before.

Emrys turned his back of Griffith surprising both Griffith and Morgana. Emrys grabbed her arm and started to pull her away out of the Centre of the Isle. As she was being led away, she risked a glance behind her. Griffith looked at her, glaring. With a shudder she turned back to the sorcerer that was leading her away from everyone and into a more secluded part of the Isle.

The part of the Isle that Emrys had led her to the very most Southern part of it. Here, beyond the mist you could just see the sea. The edge of the Lake lapped onto the Isle slightly, wetting the lush green grass. They were alone.

Morgana's heart thumped hurriedly in her chest as Emrys let go of her arm and turned to face her.

They stood silently, each trying to see beyond the hoods of the other's cloak. Morgana once again wandered what was beyond the cloak of darkness, what the man really was. She trembled, unable to keep her impatience hidden but Emrys didn't comment. She broke the silence.

"T-thank you, my lord."

"Don't thank me," Emrys replied, "Be more cautious next time."

"Next time?"

Emrys seemed almost angry, "Yes, next time! Do you think that speaking didn't have any effects? Look what Griffith almost did to you!"

"If you are so sure that I he was going to kill me then why didn't you act against him? Throw him out of this meeting? You obviously wanted Breri's views to win then why did you throw out his biggest rival?" Morgana's old habits with Uther had come over her. A couple of seers were looking over in their direction but they scampered off when Emrys looked at them.

Turning back to her Emrys spoke quickly and furiously, "And you are still drawing attention to yourself Morgana!"

"Not-" Morgana broke off when she realised everything that Emrys had said. Morgana. She had never mentioned that name, and even though it showed a certain likeness to her real name nobody should be able to match up Morgan Le Fay with Morgana.

Emrys had stumbled back slightly, his body expression changing from furious to wariness. So he understood his mistake.

"What did you call me?"

Emrys shook his head, obviously feigning confusion, "What? Morgan? That is your name?"

Morgana stepped in closer, "No, Morgana. How? How do you know that name? Who are you?"

The sorcerer standing before her seemed to lose all of his mysteriousness and confidence, "That-that is not the question. It is very dangerous for you to be here!"

But Morgana didn't step back. Something had just crossed her mind, "I know that voice."

Surprising Emrys she leapt forwards and ripped off his hood. Emrys' face was shown, a mask of shock and horror. His fingers were fumbling for his hood, trying to throw it over his head again. But the damage was done; Morgana could recognize the man before.

Merlin.


	8. Identity Crisis

**Chapter 8 – Identity Crisis**

Merlin.

Merlin was a sorcerer.

Morgana froze in shock. She had never, ever expected this. When she was pulling off the hood of Emrys she presumed that she would only see the face of someone...else. Not Merlin, just a normal person who she happened to know. Someone that she wouldn't be shocked too much if he was a sorcerer. And that person was anyone but Merlin.

Emrys, Merlin. She would have never seen the connection. Who would have guessed that the gangly man servant of Arthur's was really a powerful sorcerer? Powerful enough to kill anyone that he wanted. Powerful enough to take over Camelot. But what was a sorcerer like him doing in Camelot? Why would he need to stay in the one place that he would be killed for existing. Merlin had the freedom to go back to Ealdor or someplace else whilst Morgana was stuck, trapped by sweet words and promises, in Camelot with Uther bearing down at her every day. She found it awfully hard to look at Uther in the face, everyday, knowing that if word got out about who she truly was, someone who had once almost become her father would kill her without a second thought.

Did Arthur know that Merlin was a sorcerer? It was very unlikely, for Morgana had witness how Arthur's views on sorcery could change between days. It was too risky, too risky to trust the son of the Tyrant King. His head could quickly be on the chopping block.

But Morgana reminded herself about something. Merlin was Emrys and that would mean that he is the most powerful sorcerer here in this vicinity. Surely the most powerful sorcerer would have enough knowledge and magic to keep themself out of Uther's cells. But if Merlin was accused of sorcery would he walk quietly to his cell and his death or would he break out himself, not caring how many people are hurt for his actions? The Merlin that Morgana knew would never do that, he was too selfless. But Morgana didn't know Merlin any longer? Was the real Merlin a heartless coward, just as Uther is? Morgana didn't know.

All this time and Merlin had such a secret, Morgana realised that whilst she was coming to terms with her own magic, Merlin had known about his and kept it from her. Why did he do this? It could have helped her so much to know that she wasn't so alone in the world. That she would have someone to talk to when the dreams would get too terrible for her. He could have been a helping hand, someone to cry on but he had just stayed in the background, not thinking anything about her. And Morgana hated him for it.

"You!"

With some satisfaction she watched as Merlin flinched, his face scrunching up. He looked at her worriedly and glanced around him but they were alone.

"Who are you?" Morgana shot the question to him. A blank expression came over him.

"I am Merlin." His voice sounded shaky, nothing like the confident tone that he had used when he was addressing the sorcerers beforehand. Merlin's eyes darted about, always looking for people and his hand had reached up to his hood but he made no move to put it on again.

That wasn't the answer that Morgana was looking for. She wanted Merlin to reveal all of his secrets now, "No. You are a sorcerer. What else have you lied about?"

"Morgana..." Merlin's voice was full of anguish and Morgana's demur changed slightly, "Please Morgana. I never meant to hurt you. It's just..."

"Why didn't you tell me Merlin? Why did you keep me in the dark?" her voice had become dangerously low.

"Gaius forbade me, Morgana. If even one more person knew about me I would have to leave." She didn't understand why he didn't want to leave.

"Why?"

Merlin frowned but Morgana noticed that his body was still shaking, "Why what?"

"Why do you not want to leave?"

Merlin's eyes glazed over and he suddenly looked like he had the whole world on his shoulders, "Arthur. I have sworn to protect him from everything. If I leave he will be vulnerable to attacks from both friend and foe. It is my reason for existence, my destiny, to protect prince prat. Also Morgana, Camelot is my home. I feel more at home there than anywhere else. I think you can understand that."

She could. But that didn't make her any less angry at Merlin. She didn't know what to think about Merlin protecting Arthur all of this time. She had regularly seen Merlin and Arthur breaking all protocol as Prince and servant by making a friendship. A strong friendship that had survived almost everything, even if Merlin or Arthur didn't admit it.

In the distance, behind Merlin, two witches appeared in the distance. They were talking, arguing judging by how much their hands were moving. They had not noticed Merlin and Morgana yet, but they were moving closer to them. Her eye's drifted back to Merlin and realised that he had not replaced his hood, his shocked face and his identity was revealed to all who might see.

"Merlin," she warned. No matter how angry she was at Merlin she didn't really want him found out by either Uther or the sorcerers.

Merlin turned around and in seeing the other witches reached behind him and lifted his hood. Morgana doubled check her hood, she didn't want to be caught. The witches passed by, curiously looking in their direction but when Merlin turned his head they quickly scurried away. How imposing Merlin was, just by getting a powerful name and cloak. Morgana shook her head.

"So, Merlin..."

Morgana could no longer read Merlin's expression; it was covered completely by the hood. For a fleeting moment she wished that she hadn't warned Merlin to the witches' presence making home try to explain himself but she quickly pushed the feeling down.

A hissing sound came from under the hood and Morgana realised that Merlin just sighed, "Morgana, the sorcerers are impatient to restart again. I will explain everything to you, I promise!"

Icily Morgana replied, no idea where such anger came from, "Don't make promises that you can't keep."

She started walked away from Merlin but he grabbed her arm.

" Morgana, please. I can help you."

"You didn't before."

He let go, "I know. I am truly sorry for that. I just..." he broke off, his voice voicing a deep pain and exhaustion.

"What?"

He shook his head, "We don't have time for this explanation. I will tell you, sometime soon."

"We have all the time. Maybe I should reveal who you really are to everyone! Then we will have plenty of time." That was a slightly low blow but she took some satisfaction from the way that Merlin took a step back.

"You can't!" he almost shouted. After lowering his voice he continued, "You can't. Arthur...Arthur is here."

Morgana jumped and lent into Merlin, asking for more information,

"They is a traitor somewhere. Uther knows everything to do with this meeting He has sent Arthur to spy on the meeting, to see what happens."

This was very unsettling news, "But...where is he? Where is Arthur?"

Merlin was silent for a moment, his head bowed but then he suddenly grabbed Morgana's arm again and led her north keeping to the edge of the Isle.

"There." Merlin pointed to brown hooded figure who was sitting at the edge of the lake, looking ahead.

She stared, recognising the way that the young man sat. It was Arthur so then Merlin was telling the truth.

"He's not doing much spying at the moment," Morgana told Merlin dryly. And she was right. There was a group of sorcerers nearby whispering away at something but Arthur hadn't even given them the smallest glance.

"No," Merlin's voice was a little more high-pitched than normal, "He's not. But he is probably being smart, and not drawing attention to himself."

Morgana felt like she just got punched in the gut, "Merlin. I don't understand you anymore! Who are you?"

He turned to her again and started to reply, "I am..."

Out of the blue another group of sorcerers past just behind them in hearing range. Midsentence Merlin changed his words;

"Emrys."

With a snort Morgana stormed away. She gave Arthur one long look as she passed him, wondering what he was thinking.

* * *

Arthur was thinking many things.

He was thinking about everything that had just happened in this meeting and his conversation with Emrys. His conversation with Emrys had changed him, as did watching the many sorcerers around him. They reminded him so much of home, Uther's court. But yet they were so different and what they argued about was only the littlest thing.

Arthur felt himself changing, more than hanging out with Merlin could ever do. Now he was starting to see the world as it really was and not just Uther's 'hate all magic' world. Without his father watching his every move and killing those who Arthur thought was innocent, here Arthur was free. A small part of him, very small but still there, almost wanted him to desert Camelot and live with the sorcerers. But he could not abandon his duty to Camelot and his people.

He wondered where he was getting such rebellious thoughts.

Pushing away his emotions Arthur turned his head away from the lake and around the edge of the Isle. In the distance he could see two people, two sorcerers, walking in his direction. After a little careful calculating he realised that it was Morgan le Fay and Emrys. He turned his head back to where it was before and pretended disinterest but his eyes were really darting constantly towards the two sorcerers. That was his method of spying.

Arthur watched as they walked closer to him. Emrys was leading Morgan by her arm. All of a sudden they both stopped and Emrys' pointed in Arthur's direction. Arthur's blood grew cold for Emrys was pointing at him out of all people. By why him? All through the meeting he had been worried that Emrys might know who he is but now? Now he was almost certain. Yet for some unexplained and peculiar reason Arthur didn't feel as fearful as he should have been. Maybe it was because Emrys and Morgan had both shown that they didn't want any bloodshed? Or maybe it was because Emrys just seemed to radiate pureness.

He shifted slightly, aware of the two sets of eyes upon him but he didn't turn his head in their direction. His eyes strained around the folds of his hood, trying to look at what the sorcerers were doing.

They had turned away from him now, quarrelling between themselves. This surprise Arthur, he had imagined that two people who shared views would get along. After a few more moments, were Arthur felt another strike of fear as Emrys motioned over to him again, Morgan marched in his direction. Her body language showed immense amounts of dissatisfaction and frustration as she passed Arthur by. He didn't give her one glance but still he watched. Emrys was standing still for the moment but then walked off much more calmly to the altar again.

Getting up, Arthur started to follow Emrys at a safe distance away. If Emrys noticed then he didn't comment. They both walked into the Centre again.

The atmosphere had changed. The sorcerers muttered restlessly in groups, pacing or just standing. When Emrys entered they all breathed slightly and resumed their seats. Arthur stayed behind as the leader walk to the altar and placed his hands on the charm that glowed dimly on the altar.

A string of old words came of out Emrys' mouth and the barrier that had formed around the Isle strengthened and glowed more brightly. A couple of sorcerers entered the Isle and resumed their seats. Then Emrys spoke;

"I have called you again, but not for long. The hour grows late and we all must return home soon. Tonight I will call the views of one more person, and then the second meeting shall begin tomorrow evening." Arthur knew all this from Tyler, but from what he could understand; tomorrow evening's meeting will be the last. If Emrys had only one more person to call on, then it should all be finished soon? He hoped that was true.

Emrys straightened and called out one last name;

"Rion? What are your views?"

* * *

In a cool, clear tone of voice Merlin spoke up, "Rion? What are your views?"

Emrys had almost disappeared from Merlin's mind now, the run in with Morgana destroying any pretending. But for Arthur's sake he clutched onto the last shred of his other self. Morgana finding out the truth had not been part of the plan at all; it had eliminated all trust between them. But he needed Morgana on his side, just as he needed Rion.

Without Magnar's voice whispering in his head, for Merlin had blocked him out the moment Morgana was revealed, Merlin had no idea what Rion's past was and how that shaped her. He could only work on the small mention that Rion was extremely powerful. For a moment though, in his sentence, he had faltered. A part of him knew just how powerful Rion was and feared her and that just raised more questions. If she is so powerful why doesn't she take position of leader?

The crowd of sorcerers noticed his slip up and started to lightly mutter among themselves. A fleeting moment of self-doubt consumed him. Merlin shook himself and launched himself at Emrys, hoping to cover up any mistakes with a mask.

When he was ready again Mer-Emrys turned towards a hooded woman who had risen. This was obviously Rion but not what Emrys had expected. For some reason he had thought that Rion would be tall, slim and beautiful; quite like Morgana. But this woman was hunched over and very old. Long gray locks came out from under her hood but her face was clearly visible. Yet even though she seemed to be nothing but an old crone many sorcerers hovered around her, their faces blank and empty of emotion. They sat stood and sat around her like ghosts but watching her every move. Rion seemed to be the stone, the foundation that kept them in place. And Emrys had no doubt that any one of them would do anything for her.

But there was something else that Emrys could feel, a sort of balance in the room. Carefully he called the magic from within himself. A powerful, strong feeling started to flow through his body, strengthening his physicality and mentality. All at once his ears sharpened, and he could hear the fast breathing of a deer that was grazing on the other side of the lake. His eyes sharpened, and he could see every grain of stone from the Isle. And a new sense came to him.

This sense was a sense that only could be reached when he opened himself to magic. It made him truly a sorcerer. Gaius had never spoken to him about it; it was something that he had even kept from his mother. For most of his childhood years he had thought it to be something that every sorcerer had and not just him.

But it was only recently had he found out the truth. He was in the library, looking up herbs for Gaius when he came across the book accidently. The book didn't have a title anywhere on it and it was placed in the middle of the Herb book that he was reading. It had fallen out when he had tripped over his feet and dropped the herb book on the floor. Upon opening it he had felt a sense of unease, the very pages of it felt magical and the contents were no different.

It was then that Merlin had learnt about his 'sixth sense'. His sixth sense came on with magic and showed him many things about another of his kind. With it he could probe into their very souls and find out about how much magic they had, or what magic they were best in or even who they were loyal to.

But this special branch of magic had a price. All spells that he was currently using would be cancelled out and he could be unable to perform more spells. His body would weaken and he would become dizzy and hungry.

That is why, now, Emrys only used his sixth sense for a mere second. But that one second was burned into his mind. It showed him who was on whose side.

Emrys had called Rion a foundation before but only know did he realise how correct he was. About half of the sorcerers relied on her to keep them aloft. She was the balancing point and whatever side she would choose, most of the other sorcerers would go in her direction. Emrys then realised that without Rion on his side, there would almost be no hope.

The charm lost its glow for one second, the second that Emrys used his 'sixth sense'. That didn't go unnoticed by the sorcerers and Merlin was struck with a fear that he was losing it. Losing control of the sorcerers.

Banishing the magic from his mind, Emrys waited for Rion to speak. But just before she did Magnar's voice appeared in his mind, _Emrys._

He sounded almost fearful and Emrys knew that his forage into his own unique magic didn't go unobserved, _What?_

_How? You... _For the first time Emrys heard Magnar being completely scared and not in control of the situation.

_Don't ask, _he replied, _I cannot explain._

_Fine, _unwillingly Magnar dropped the subject, _Emrys, your power is failing; the sorcerers are starting to doubt you._

_I know, _and he did know. Everywhere he turned he could see discontentment on the sorcerers' faces.

_You need Rion on your side! But be careful, she may look weak but she is the very nature of the earth. The other sorcerers worship her. But she...enjoys...pointing out everyone's flaws._

But Emrys could see this already, _I know, I know. Now, hush. She is about to speak. _

The mental connection broke and Rion voice came from under her hood.

"Emrys. That is who you are. Emrys the great warlock. Emrys the leader. But that is not who you really are inside are you? You have a secret, but there's nothing wrong with that. We all have secrets. Yet what makes you so different? You have power. Oh yes you have power. But untrained, so very untrained."

Emrys almost shuddered and a weird feeling came over him. It was like his very soul was being probed and watched, like all of his secrets laid bare. This had what Magnar had meant. But he stayed silent. Rion had stepped forwards. The sorcerers' eyes followed her but she only had eyes for Emrys. She had a mystic, ethereal look about her.

"How many sorcerers have asked you to join their sides? You frighten us all, Emrys. They swallow their dignity to ask for partnership. All in the name of winning over the most powerful sorcerer in all of Albion? For that is what you are, no matter how much you deny it. You are even more powerful than me."

Every sorcerer gasped as one, which would have been hilarious if the situation was not so forbidding. Emrys only shifted slightly as this declaration was made, still not speaking. Once again, Magnar spoke in his mind but he made no inclination to reply;

_About five minutes ago and I wouldn't have believed_ _her. Now? That is a different story. You show magic that no one should have._

Rion spoke again and Emrys flinched at how raspy her voice was, "But I have sworn an oath not to speak any more, and that oath is still binding until you drop it Emrys. Now then, you asked me a question, Emrys. And I will answer it."

The crowd fell silent again, everyone's gaze riveted on Rion again. Emrys stayed silent, and a glance of understanding went through him and Rion. They both knew that Rion knew some of Emrys' secrets. Not who Emrys really was, but how insecure he was.

"I have listened to everyone. I have heard their conversations. Now I will place my opinion on them. Breri!" Breri jumped again and she turned her gaze onto him, "You are a man of power, no as powerful as you could be. Your past reflects on your powers. What has happened in the past that makes you so afraid of Griffith? Why do you need to seek out Emrys protection, as diminutive as it is?"

At this Emrys gave her a glare but it she didn't give any comment, rather she went onto dissect everything about Griffith.

"Griffith! Powerful aren't you. But yet so weak. How does it feel to be behind Emrys, who is just a boy? How does it feel to have hopes of being a leader for such a long time and have them thrown away so quickly by this man," she gestured toward Emrys. "But revenge is so...petty. It was like what Morgan le Fay says," she turned her head around to Morgana, who stiffened, "No need for it. It will blind you. And that is what you are Griffith, blinded by hate."

By now, Breri, Griffith and a few other sorcerers were looking on at Rion with distaste but none of them stood against her.

"Tryamon, so beautiful. So manipulative, your views and idea reflect that don't they? Controlling Arthur, that is what you aim for. But what if you're controlling your allies as well?"

Tryamon flicked her head back and shifted slightly. Emrys shuddered; Rion had just deciphered each of the sorcerer's flaws. He wouldn't have been surprised if she could read minds. Unseen by most the charm flickered, they were almost out of time.

"I have listened," Rion repeated, "And have come to the conclusion that we are like the other Kingdoms in Albion, just a little bit more magical. So then, why should we aim for as little bloodshed as possible? The other Kingdoms do not care for how much pain there is. But it is like what Morgan says, there really shouldn't be any unnecessary pain. But then, we remember Uther.

"We remember the pain that we all went through, the pain of being parted from families. The pain of exile, the pain of fire. We remember how Uther watched us burn, just to swallow his guilt. Even now, he swallows the reason of the Great Purge from everyone in Camelot, even his own son."

"His son, Arthur. A boy born on the day Igraine died, the pawn of his father. From that day he was born he had been cast on with unfavourable light by us, the sorcerers. For good reasons though, without him we still could be living in peace at the castle, the purge never happening. That is the reason, among others, that I make my stand."

"I believe, for the sake of revenge and justice, to quench the thirst for blood of most that we should aim to capture Arthur and use him against Uther and Camelot. Then we shall return magic to Camelot!"

At this, everyone in the vicinity jumped up and yelled, not at Rion but at the sky. They were pleased. Only a few stayed sitting, the dignified sorcerers and the ones against this new idea. Breri had shrunk back into his chair, trying to make himself as small as possible. Those who were still on his side; many had given up on their cowardly leader, backed away from the Centre and pressed themselves near the wall.

Emrys' heart plummeted and he started shaking. This was not going well at all. He spun around, looking for Morgana, trying to block out the cheering. She had moved closer the altar and was staring at him. She unsurprisingly was not cheering. Their stared at each other for a moment and at once started to look for Arthur. The crowd had become louder, all of Rion's supporters were screaming out in joy, screaming for Camelot to fall. Emrys noted all this sourly, how was he meant to keep Arthur safe if all of these sorcerer's were aiming to kill him? Speaking of Arthur he was standing where he was before, not looking too impressed.

Emrys bit his lip. This really was not going well. Even Magnar was not his usual self, his normal fast going mind had slowed down to one thought, a thought that Emrys shared.

_Oh no._

Emrys slipped from Merlin's mind as he tried to remember the conversation he had before with Gaius in, what seemed, such a long time ago. He remembered Gaius' comment that if he wasn't the leader the sorcerer's hoped to be they would destroy him in seconds. And judging how they took Rion's ideas it was quite obvious who would lead next. Or was it? Merlin remembered how popular she was even before she had spoken up; maybe she truly didn't want leadership. In that case, the leadership would go for one that had meant to have it from the start.

Griffith.

If that was to happen then the whole of Camelot would be destroyed, Griffith's blindness getting in the way of reasoning. And Merlin would stand alone in the fight.

_Not alone._

Morgana's voice cut into his head. He jumped but nobody saw, too busy in battle cries. Morgana had been listening in his head for a while now, and tentatively Merlin replied.

_Morgana?_

Her reply was fierce, all angry between them forgotten. _Hope is not all lost. We still have a few supporters. Talk to them now in your mind, persuade them to try and convince others that bloodshed is bad. We have to go for sneakiness. It is the best way to do this._

As Emrys was almost gone from his mind Merlin decided to reply in his usual quirky way,_ You are so much better than me at this. Maybe you should take over the role of leader!_

_Merlin, no time for funniness. The meeting's time is almost up. _She was right. The charm was only lightly flickering now. Quickly, but carefully, Merlin reached out with his mind to Breri and Magnar.

_Breri?_

Breri fell out of his seat which made a few sorcerers nearby crack up.

_M-my lord? _Brushing off his cloak Breri turned towards Merlin whilst sitting back down again.

_Breri, do you stand with me on this...problem._

Breri was not hesitant to reply, _Yes._

_Magnar? _Merlin asked the sorcerer who was studiously looking at his nails. Unlike Breri, Magnar didn't jump which was probably because he had much experience in the whole 'breaking into one's mind to talk with them'.

_Normally Emrys, I wouldn't take sides but today seems to have a lot of firsts._

Merlin waited for a direct answer but Magnar didn't give any. _I'll take that as a yes then._

After asking Breri who was on his side and soon Merlin had a good twenty sorcerers talking with him mentally. To any observer it would look like they were just staring into space but the sorcerers were all caught up with their cries. It was amazing how much noise a large group of sorcerers could make. Some were even perform some very showy magic, obviously trying to impress others. It took all of Merlin's will power not to stop and stare at some truly amazing magic.

Merlin made sure a block was in place in his mind so that the other sorcerers would not catch any thoughts that would show Arthur, Morgana and himself for what they truly were.

_So, _Merlin began but he was interrupted by Breri, who was still looking for other sorcerers in the crowd that were on their side.

_Emrys. What about this man? _Breri showed a picture of a hooded man wearing a brown cloak. Morgana and Merlin glanced at each other, recognising who it was.

Arthur.

Merlin decided to let Arthur in, because it would of looked odd not to. From the way that Arthur was standing he didn't look too pleased with the proceedings.

He double-checked his block then said, _Yes. I will let him in._

Merlin broke off all connection with the group and reached his mind towards Arthur.

* * *

Arthur watched the scene in front of him with loathing. So this is why Uther hated magic so much, and Arthur was close to agreeing with him. How could anyone dare suggest of using him against his father? He would much rather take his own life than to be put in such a helpless situation.

But that was what he felt at the present moment, utterly helpless. He watched as all the sorcerers screamed for his death, for his father's death and for Camelot's death. And he could do nothing for he was no match for such power. He doubted that even the whole army of Camelot could go against something so powerful. So soon he would have to follow out his father's instruction, as much as he hated it. He would have to kill Emrys. But he didn't want to, because he felt a sort of connection with the man.

That's just silly, he thought, every sorcerer in here wanted his death. There was no mistake of that.

_Ahem, ahem. _

Arthur fell over in shock. It took him a second to register what had just happened. A sorcerer had just spoken in his mind. His hand leapt to his head as a slight headache came on. Never before had Arthur felt so vulnerable. He felt as the last safe place in the world had just been breached. Uncertainly Arthur started to explore his mind a bit more. This he had never done before because no sorcerer had ever penetrated his mind. After a short minute he found another presence in one part of his mind. When he reached out to it the presence formed a sort of bond between them. Only now did he recognise the other presence.

"Emrys?"

_Yes._

Arthur glanced up and looked around for Emrys. He was standing still, completely oblivious to everything that was happening around him. Now that he was looking properly Arthur could see about twenty others looking the same that Emrys did, completely still.

"What is it?" Arthur spoke aloud, earning him an odd look from a sorcerer nearby.

_Just think what you want to say. I will hear it._

Arthur concentrated. _Like this?_

_Yes, _Emrys replied, _You are on our side are you not?_

Arthur knew the answer to that question, _Yes._

_Then join our conversation between those who don't like how this meeting is going._

Ha, his father would be proud of him now. An invite to a top secret meeting.

_Yes._

Arthur then experienced the oddest feeling in his life. Emrys tugged the bond between the two and pulled it into the centre of the Isle. Arthur resisted, but only for a moment. He then felt that bond make new bond with all the other sorcerers that were on Emrys' side. He probed around and realised that he recognised two of the sorcerers, Morgan le Fay and Breri.

_So, _Emrys addressed the group, _we have not much time. But I need you to all start to slowly persuade every sorcerer who you are close with over to our side. Hope is not yet lost. But I cannot press enough how important it is to keep quiet. _All the sorcerers nodded mentally in assent.

_Come to tomorrow's meeting, I expect you all to be here. If it goes badly I will protect you all, I promise._

Somehow, Arthur felt oddly relieved which didn't make any sense at all. He was relieved because a sorcerer told him he would protect him?

Suddenly Emrys' broke into everyone's head, _The meeting is about to end._

And it did, with a final burst of light the charm died down. Everyone fell silent and unmoving. Emrys walked over from where he was and scooped up the charm and placed in the folds of his cloak.

"This meeting had ended," Emrys' voice didn't falter as it did before, "It shall resume tomorrow where the final vote will begin. But one last thing, if anyone attacks Camelot in any way before tomorrow night, you will be killed. Thank you."

Arthur watched as Emrys stepped down and walked off to the edge of the Isle, where his boat was. With interest, Arthur noted that a man followed him close behind.

Only when Emrys had left the centre did any sorcerer move. They didn't talk at all but moved off into their boats.

Arthur turned around and followed the route that he had used to get to the Isle. When he left the centre he saw the hundreds of sorcerers stepping into boats and going off into the lake. They were so silent and still that Arthur couldn't believe that they were the same sorcerers that had just screamed out so many different types of battle cries.

He followed the same green hooded witch that he saw before into his boat. When all five of his boat companions had climbed in the boat set off of its own accord.

Night had fallen and without the light coming from the charm it took all of Arthur's skills as a hunter to see through into the dark. But still he couldn't see anything in front of his very eyes.

The boat made its way swiftly north, silent and still. Arthur shivered with cold and drew his cloak around him. On the Isle there was a large amount of spells keeping up the comfort levels but there was no spell here doing that.

It seemed like forever until the boat hit the other side of the lake. When it did though, the other four sorcerers got out of the boat very quickly. Rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes Arthur followed them into the dark.

Using his memory from before Arthur soon found his horse, Tristian, tied up where he left him. He led the black horse onto the path and mounted him after packing up his camp he had made in the clearing. He wasn't alone; many other sorcerers were doing the same. When he had climbed on he pushed the horse into a trot and rode off into the night.


	9. Returning Home

**Chapter 9: Returning Home**

Merlin, Morgana and Arthur made their separate ways back to Camelot, reaching their home by daybreak.

Each had ridden through the night, banishing exhaustion and thoughts from their minds, concentrating on getting home as quickly as possible. It was crucial that they all arrived in Camelot before someone could note their disappearance but they each wanted secrecy for very different reason. Morgana wanted it because

When Arthur entered Camelot he kept his cloak on so he could maintain his anonymity. It was slightly disconcerting when the guards at the gate treated him roughly and pushed him around. For a moment Arthur wanted to take off his hood just to see their shocked faces when they realised that they had pushed the Crown Prince of Camelot around. But Arthur resisted, Camelot was resting on his shoulders. He couldn't sacrifice his people just for his pride and dignity. Therefore he allowed himself to be pushed and shoved into Camelot, making a mental note to punish these guards when he became Prince Arthur again.

Arthur couldn't reveal who he was because of the lie that he and his father had planted before he had left Camelot. He was really meant to be alone somewhere on a hunting trip.

Nobody gave Arthur a second glance; he was just another figure walking through the crowded markets. Arthur found it odd not be bowed at and people didn't scramble out of his way like they did when he was Prince. More than once Arthur had to feign a different voice and ask people to get out of the way in the most polite tone he could manage. He thought he did very well, until he saw an older woman that he had asked to move glaring at him strongly. After that he kept his mouth shut and instead waited for people to move instead of making them.

The air was getting colder so Arthur wrapped his cloak around him more tightly; always checking that his hood was in place. He had left his horse outside Camelot, away from the path to avoid bandits and guards.

Arthur walked up through the lower town and into the Courtyard. To his surprise and dismay a pyre was slowly being built in the centre; a sure sign that his father had caught another sorcerer. Arthur knew that whoever this unfortunate soul was would be innocent, all other sorcerers in Camelot currently being 'occupied'.

After going great lengths to avoid walking too close to the pyre, Arthur made his way up the steps and into the corridors of the castle. Here servants, Knights and nobles were walking about, shivering and shaking. It was very cold in the corridors but a smart servant started to light up all the torches in the corridor that were usually reserved for night time. The added warmth brought some relief to Arthur.

Arthur walked through the corridors in the same manner that he did down in the markets, swallowing his dignity. Before too long though he reached the council chamber's door. To his slight surprise he saw no guards there but shook the thought away, for now. He raised a fist and knocked once, to alert whoever was inside to his presence, and then pushed open the doors.

The first thing that hit him was the cold. In the stone hall there were no fires, no comfort. Often it would get so cold in here in the winter that Uther would move his council meetings and such into a small chamber that had a large, roaring fire in it. But the cold that gripped the council chambers today was a different type of cold.

It seemed as if the weather knew and reflected what danger Camelot was in. From an open door on the other side of the hall, a door that was reserved for servants, a light wind blew in that was barely noticeable. But the sound from the wind chilled Arthur to the core. Whether it was from spending so much time in the sorcerer's company or because his senses were on red alert, Arthur could hear a sort of _moaning _sound coming from the wind. He shuddered and glanced at the occupants of the room, to see if they had heard the noise.

His father was sitting on his throne, staring at Arthur in relief. Clearly he was happy to see his son well, even if the only thing he could recognise was the cloak that Arthur wore. Next to him, staring at the newcomer was Sir Leon who had taken over the Knights in Arthur's absence. Arthur knew not to take off his hood yet, for all Sir Leon knew was that Arthur was hunting somewhere alone for a couple more days. On the other side of Uther, holding a role of parchment, was Gaius. To Arthur's surprise, Gaius had dark rings under his eyes, like he had not been sleeping well. But that was stupid, because Arthur knew for a fact that he had millions of sleeping drafts that he could have used.

Looking more carefully, Arthur tried to see if the trio had sensed anything odd. His father looked...happy. There was really no other word for it. Arthur didn't expect that sort of expression to flash through his father's face. A deep sense of unease came up, did his father look happy because he had returned, or because they were about to capture a large group of sorcerers? There was no trace of unease on Uther's face. Whatever those winds boded his father had not sensed anything amiss.

And it looked like it was unobserved by Leon too. His face, through curious, showed nothing out of the ordinary. But Gaius, Gaius was a different matter. Every one or two seconds he would glance behind himself, straight at the open door. His face was shadowed and seemed to be more lined than usual. Something was bothering Gaius and Arthur wanted to know what.

Looking away from Gaius, Arthur turned back to his father. A second passed.

Then Uther spoke, "Sir Leon, leave us. Allow no one to enter."

Shooting another curious look at Arthur Leon bowed his head, "Yes, my lord." He walked out, shutting the doors behind him.

Another second passed and Gaius put down the roll of parchment that he was holding. He then walked over to the servant's entrance and closed the door with a loud bang. The moaning sound in the wind stopped. Reaching up, Arthur lowered his hood and shook out his hair.

"Arthur," his father sounded pleased and Arthur's heart swelled, "How did it go?"

"Very well, father. I was not found out. The sorcerers had their meeting and I returned safely."

"Good, good. So, Arthur. What happened in the meeting? What did the sorcerers decide? Who are they?"

Processing these questions in his mind, Arthur tried to come up with the best way to respond. He could either tell his father that all was fine and that the sorcerers were squabbling idiots who couldn't help attacking each other, much less make a plan and see it done. But Gaius' eyes were probing him deeply, and he knew he couldn't lie.

"They...they were not as I expected." Arthur's voice was unsure.

"Oh? How so? Start from the beginning Arthur."

Taking a deep breath, Arthur began.

"Well I got into the meeting well; Tyler's charm working perfectly. There was about five distinctive groups of sorcerers and their leaders with Emrys on the top. The leader's names were Breri, Tryamon, Griffith and Rion."

Uther interrupted, "And what did the sorcerers want?"

"As a whole, they wanted magic to return to Camelot but they each had their ways of doing it. Breri wanted a peaceful way," at this Uther snorted lightly but Arthur ignored it, "Tryamon want to capture me to control you. Griffith wanted everyone dead and Rion..."

Arthur broke off, trailing his words. Uther was writing something down, quickly. When his son stopped speaking he looked up, "Yes, what did this _Rion _want?"

Arthur bowed his head, "She wanted a mix between Griffith's and Tryamon's views. Most of the sorcerers followed her over Emrys."

The quill stopped scratching, Uther had stopped writing. He looked up, "If Rion, Tryamon and Griffith combine then there is no hope that the sorcerers will go with Breri. If they had, then they would be much easier to kill. You have to stop this at once Arthur. Send the army."

"Father! Please, listen to me!" said Arthur with determination, "I believe that is unnecessary bloodshed. Hope hasn't gone yet, we don't need to resort to such _cruel _ways."

"What do you mean?"

Taking a another breath Arthur spoke in a calmly, "There was a witch, Morgan Le Fay. She went against Griffith and spoke against him. She wants peace as well. She was nothing but a simple witch, yet she stood against Griffith for all to see. And at the end of her speech she put Emrys, the leader, into a position where he had no choice but to reveal whose side he was on.

"He was on Breri's."

Uther's face was unreadable but Arthur took the silence that followed as an invitation to continue, "When Rion spoke and the sorcerer went for her Emrys called together a group of twenty sorcerers that wanted peace. They are working through the day to aim to get as many follows as possible. Wait till tonight, when the sorcerers join again. I will go to that meeting and I will do my best to encourage peace. If that fails I will leave the meeting, ride back to Camelot with the sorcerers who are for peace and warn you."

His father's mouth snapped open, "RIDE with the sorcerers? You will do no such thing!"

"Why?"

"What if one, what if one of them betrays the others and kills you. If you are so far away from me, I cannot prevent that from happening!"

"I am quite able to look after myself!" Arthur was enraged that his father could think so little of him.

"I know, Arthur. But I don't trust these sorcerers. Go to the meeting tonight, don't attract attention. Leave the meeting early if war is to come, then ride to Camelot and inform me alone. And, to buy us time, you will need to kill Emrys."

Arthur did a double-take, "What?"

"You heard me, I told you only a few days ago. Emrys is your target."

Arthur could remember. It seemed such a long time ago; his father speaking to him just after Tyler gave her account. _Kill Emrys. _Back then it seemed so easy. Arthur had killed many men and sorcerers; it was just going to be another man, another evil traitor. But now, now that he had met Emrys, his opinions had changed.

"I don't believe I should kill Emrys."

Uther's face went red; he looked like he was going to yell at Arthur but at the last minute controlled himself, "And what brought on such thoughts?"

"I spoke with him father. He isn't like other sorcerers I have seen. Yes, he is mysterious. Yes, he is powerful. And yes, he is a sorcerer but I believe that those factors don't make a man evil. He was on our side, with Morgan Le Fay and Breri. He can help."

Uther couldn't hold back his anger and Arthur flinched as a torrent of angry words that came flying at him, "Arthur. You will do as I say. You cannot trust any sorcerer. You will kill him. And you will kill him if war is to be the only option!"

If Arthur knew Emrys better he would have fought against his father. But a small part of him could hear the sense in his father's words. And he would have his father's pride over one sorcerer's life.

So he replied, "Very well father."

He left the room quickly, trying to suppress the wave of guilt that washed over him.

* * *

Gaius was not the only person in Camelot to notice the winds.

The change in the weather had come on quite quickly, surprising all of the residents of Camelot. It had been a normal calm evening, with only a slight chill in the air. In the markets the traders started to set up their stalls, complaining to their neighbours about all of their stolen goods, which included a few fine shirts and horses. Bleary-eyed servants stumbled from their homes and walked the long walk up to the castle. Guards marched around, rubbing their hands together to stop the chill.

One of the traders, a man named Andret, sat down behind his stall. His stall was full of folded clothes in many different colours. The complexity of the clothes differed as well; some were skilfully created masterpieces simple yet but beautiful still. Andret was in a bad mood yet everything he had done to quell the bad mood had failed. Normally, he would feel better just by looking at his favourite shirt. His favourite shirt was a deep-blue design embroidered with beads from everywhere in Albion. To make that shirt he travelled all around Albion, buying the finest beads in each place. It was so precious to him that if Uther so desired it he would have to sell his kingdom just to buy one scrap of it. This was a shirt that he was never destined to sell.

But no matter how hard he stared at the beautiful rainbow beads, Andret was still full of rage. He knew exactly what he was angry at. Two days ago, it must of been two days ago, he was having a good day. Fine sales, he was anticipating a good holiday after he saw his second finest shirt sold off. Everything was good, he was packing up for the night when he did a count of his shirts, to his horror he found three of them missing. Not his finest shirts, just really good quality ones. But that didn't matter to Andret; he was missing the shirts more than the money.

For each of his shirts had a story. The black shirt was from Mercia the black shirt was from Mercia; he had bargained for the material from a drunk who undervalued the material and Andret got a nice bargain. The grey, which was very cheap, was from Camelot; it was said to be leftovers from one of Prince Arthur's shirts, before a clumsy manservant split hot sauce on it. And his purple shirt, which did not have a story but he missed it nonetheless because it was the most expensive.

After sobbing for a good couple of minutes Andret had checked the rest of his stock to see if the thief had struck again. And, to his horror, the thief had. Three of his cloaks were missing and two of his pants.

Andret remembered the confusion he had felt after he got over his tantrum. Why would a thief steal these clothes out of them all? There were much more artistic ones then the ones that were missing.

He grumbled as he sat down behind his stall, reliving the memories that flashed through his mind. With a slight sob he pulled some ink and parchment out from the bag that he always carried around with him. With his slight fingers he pulled out a piece of parchment that had all the records of sales on it. Pressing hard on his quill he recorded the sad fact that he had 'lost' much of his wares.

"_Cloak – Black. Worth fourteen silver coins. Stolen." _He dipped his quill back into the ink.

"_Cloak – White. Worth sixteen-" _Pausing between his words, Andret made to dip his quill again.

A sudden gust of wind came his way, blowing through the market. Though Andret tried to grab it, the parchment blew off the table and onto the floor, knocking the ink well over in the process. Cursing, Andret lent over on his chair to pick them up-

And was promptly knocked over by another gust of wind.

He scrambled on the floor for a moment before getting up again. He looked to the south, where the wind had come from and squinted.

The wind had knocked over pretty much everything, but the people of Camelot were quickly recovering. They clambered to their feet, trying to protect their wares. Guards ran here and there, helping the frail to get into the safety of their homes.

_Whoosh!_

Another gust of wind made the unsuspecting Andret fall over again and knock his head.

He laid there for a moment when a voice said, "Are you alright?"

Andret opened his eyes and blinked, trying to rid his head of the dizziness. Above him a figure stood holding a hand out. Reaching out, Andret grasped it and allowed him to be pulled to his feet. He shook his head and the dizziness cleared. Now he could recognise the manservant that stood before him, Merlin. The first thing that Andret noted was his clothes, like he did with anyone else. The skinny man wasn't wearing his usual attire, but rather something that Andret would sell. Just a plain grey shirt and a brown set of pants. A black hood was tucked under one arm.

"Yes. Thank you Merlin." He smiled up.

"No problem," and without as much as a goodbye hurried off to the castle.

Andret shook his head; the clothes that Merlin was wearing looked oddly familiar.


	10. Morgana's Lies

**Chapter 10: Morgana's Lies**

Morgana had a big problem.

She had reached Camelot just after Merlin did and had walked through the castle grounds fine, her cloak covering up who she really was. But she wondered if being in Camelot was really the best idea. Uther was very protective of her, as she had found that out when he she was kidnapped many months ago.

She walked through the castle corridors marvelling at how little the routine had changed. People still got around doing their usual daily chores, without any inkling of the masses of danger residing in Camelot's borders. But a closer inspection of the servants' faces revealed a wariness that Morgana wasn't expecting to see, their eyes darting around more often. Servants were the most observant because of their ability to watch without being watched themselves. So obviously some of them could sense that something was amiss, and Morgana wondered how.

When Morgana reached her chambers, she eased open the door slightly and looked in. Her room had been untouched since she had last stepped in there. It was empty of human life so Morgana stepped inside the door. The morning light shone into her chambers, lighting them up. In the corner of the room there was a tall, hooded figure staring back at her.

She jumped and almost cried out in shock. To her surprise, the hooded figure jumped too; becoming smaller as they stepped back slightly.

She was looking at herself.

She paused for a few more seconds, trying to get her breath back. After her breathing had become controlled, she became aware of a new sound coming from behind her; footsteps stepping lighting over the cold stone floors.

In a flash, Morgana slammed the door behind her and cast off her cloak. She pushed it under her bed and sprinted over to her table. She sat down and started to pull out the pins from her hair quickly, only to start pushing them back in at a much slower pace. It would seem like she had just woken up in the morning and was getting ready for the day.

The footsteps became louder but Morgana could recognise them anywhere.

Gwen.

Morgana froze in the process of pulling out one of her pins. She couldn't believe that it had never occurred to her that Gwen would visit her chambers to do what any other maidservant would do. Her disappearance wouldn't have gone unnoticed, Gwen took her duties seriously and would have come to her chambers yesterday to make sure every little thing was taken care of. Gwen simply wouldn't _forget_ something like that. She would, on a few occasions, not come to work because something important had happened to her or those around her but this is something Morgana would have given her permission to do.

Morgana knew that Gwen must have visited her chambers last night sometime probably to clean up and help Morgana into bed. But Morgana hadn't been there; she had been standing around listening to people plot Uther's death. Gwen must have noticed her absence and she must have reported it to someone; most likely Uther.

But if Uther knew then wouldn't there be a Kingdom-wide hunt for her? She remembered the times that people had successfully kidnapped her. Being the King's ward had some massive risks and the offer of easy ransom was too tempting for some to ignore. And every time she had been kidnapped and held to ransom Uther had always done anything to get her back; once even paying the whole ransom when it looked like there was no possible way for any of the Knights of Camelot to rescue her.

So, if her disappearance had been reported then would Uther be searching everyone leaving Camelot, questioning everyone who could have been a witness, posting guards everywhere and having Arthur take the Knights out and track her down? She hadn't seen anything like that happening when she had walked up to her Chambers. No guards dragging people away at random, no Uther marching around angrily and definitely no Arthur searching the countryside. Morgana knew for a fact that Arthur was currently _occupied _by other things; things that Uther would very much want done.

Rooting out sorcerers.

And Morgana knew in her heart, that if Uther had a choice between searching for her and killing hundreds of sorcerers, he would choose the sorcerers knowing that he would never have such a golden opportunity again.

Gwen's footsteps paused for a moment just outside Morgana's door. All was silent for a moment until a light, hesitant knocking noise came.

Knowing she was about to shock the girl behind the door Morgana tried to make her voice as carefree as possible, even though the stress coming from the sorcerer's meeting was threatening to tear her to pieces.

"Come in!"

A small squeak came from behind the dark wooden door and it opened with a large bang. Inside the doorframe was a young woman wearing a simple lavender dress. Her hair was dark and a little messy and her eyes were a little red. She had been crying.

"Morgana!" Gwen shrieked, half in relief and half in fear. Guilt washed over Morgana when she saw that the reason for Gwen's tears was fear for Morgana. But when Morgana looked closer she could see some suspicion and some caution in her eyes. Her eyes flickered once to Morgana's unslept bed and then over to the pins that Morgana was in the process of placing in her hair.

"Gwen," Morgana acted like nothing was out of the ordinary even though the unslept bed was nagging at the corner of her mind. If only she had thought to mess it up before Gwen came in. Maybe then there would be less awkward questions. The exhaustion was clear in Morgana's eyes; she blinked and struggled to open the up again. It was like what she felt after she had one of her-

_Nightmares!_

Of course! Morgana thought to herself. Her brooding had helped her come up with a good way to led Gwen off. She felt bad on how she had just thought that, but it was necessary. The less Gwen knew the better; Morgana could never forgive herself if Gwen decided to turn up to the meeting as well just to keep an eye on Morgana.

But for now she had to act as if it was just another day, "Gwen," she repeated and with one hand motioned to her pins, "Could you help me with these?"

"Yes, milady!" As Morgana turned away from Gwen to allow her to fiddle with her eye she saw, in the corner of her eye, Gwen shake her head slightly; as if to shake out some confusion.

Morgana stared at the mirror in the corner of the room, watching as Gwen walked behind her and started to grab some of the pins. Gwen then used them to pull up parts of Morgana's locks and replace the ones that Morgana had done because they were not even. The silence in the room was full of tension.

It was only when the last pin had been done up did Gwen broach the subject. Morgana was not surprised; she had been expecting questions as soon as she had heard the light patter of Gwen's footsteps.

"Milady," Gwen started slowly, "I know that this may not be in my position to ask this. I was just wondering, well, where you were last night. I came to help you into bed and, well, you weren't here!" She finished off simply. Morgana stared at Gwen's reflection in the mirror before choosing her response.

"Did you tell anyone this?" Morgana still needed a moment to get her lie together, so she aimed for a diverting question. Also this question would clear up a few matters.

The shock, though hidden from her face, was clear in her eyes. Silently, Morgana cursed. She shouldn't have started with such a demanding question. Now it was very obvious that she wanted complete secrecy, something that Gwen wouldn't be able to understand without knowing everything.

Gwen's response was guarded but Morgana could detect a sense of fear, "When I found your chambers empty I looked all over the castle for you. I had a heap of servants looking for you. We couldn't find you though so I went to the King. But he wasn't in the throne room, and the guard said he was in his chambers. After a little more searching for you I went to his chambers. There were two guards standing outside his door and they wouldn't let me past. When I told them that I needed to speak to the King about Morgana one of them opened the door and stuck his head in.

"That was his mistake. I could hear the King yelling at him that he didn't want to be disturbed. I have heard the King before act like this, but normally that is combined with a foul mood. But this time, he seemed positively _happy_. I repeated that you were missing but he didn't notice, or didn't hear me. The guard told me to go away."

Morgana was not in the slightest amazed at the King's behaviour. She had predicted this. Whenever Uther had caught another sorcerer his mood had always become better, sometimes so good that he would throw a feast for a death of a sorcerer.

But Gwen had not finished. Something else was bothering her, a fear that had surfaced. Morgana almost frowned but at last minute kept her face in check.

"After I left the King's Chambers I tried to find Merlin to ask him where you were. But he was not in Gaius' chambers. I thought he would be there because Arthur's not in Camelot at the moment. You know the solo hunting trip. Anyway, he wasn't there but Gaius was. I asked him where Merlin was but he just replied 'Somewhere.' I asked him when he would get back but he just replied with a mumbled 'Much later'. Gaius was hiding something from me I wanted to find out. I stayed around for a bit, questioning Gaius. He finally told me that Merlin was off looking for some herbs and probably wouldn't be back till today. After he said that I walked away and went to bed, knowing that I couldn't report you missing to the king, not in his current state."

Gwen paused for a moment, biting her lip. She then blurted out a quick strong of words, "I know he was lying to me. Tell me where you were Morgana! Please? It would lessen my worry."

Morgana sighed and turned around, facing Gwen. She was sick of trying to work out the stressed maid's expression through the mirror. She formed a sad a slightly guilty expression on her face, "I'm sorry, Gwen. For not telling where I was. I came back from talking with Uther late. Later than you were up, by the sounds of it. I got to bed fine but I woke up from a nightmare. It was horrible."

Here Morgana changed her expression into pure fear, not very hard to do for what she was about to describe was not her nightmare, she didn't have the chance last night to have one of those, but it was very scary. It was what she feared in the future, "There were hundreds of people in the room. They were all sorcerers, every last one of them. They were standing up and yelling at something, pointing and screaming. There words were all the same, 'Kill!' 'Destroy them!' 'Burn them!'. What they were yelling at were three people; Arthur, Merlin and myself."

She faltered for a moment and let tears fall down her face. Numbly she felt Gwen's arm around her shoulder. This was not her dream; this was what reality was going to be if one of them was to get caught, "They killed us, Gwen! They killed us all. Then they marched on to Camelot and slaughtered everyone in it. Woman, children, men, everyone! Uther fell and I saw you Gwen. Your face was full of fear."

Morgana's voice shook and she paused, deciding to change the subject, "After this nightmare I woke up. You weren't there so I went for a walk to clear my head. I wasn't back until sunrise. I'm sorry for not telling you Gwen." She turned to her maid, wiping the tear from her eye. It had been very easy to forge this lie, but she got no pleasure out of it. Gwen's face was unreadable, but then it changed to compassion and sorrow.

"No need to say sorry, Morgana. It's okay. It's just a nightmare. It won't come true." Gwen's voice was soft and the two woman hugged.

When they broke apart Morgana was reminded of something she needed to do, but she would have to drag Gwen along. She wouldn't leave her now. Getting up, she wiped the tears and exhaustion from her eyes.

"Come on Gwen," Morgana held out her hand and Gwen just looked at her, confusion all over her face, "You couldn't find him last night, so let's look now. I am sure that Merlin will be back now."

A small smile formed on Gwen's face and she accepted Morgana's hand. Morgana led Gwen out, giving her chamber's one last look before closing the door.


	11. Accusations and Truths

**Chapter 11 – Accusations and Truths**

Merlin took the steps to Gaius' chambers two at a time, tripping over every fifth step. He didn't have much time, he never did anymore. The Isle of the Blessed was quite a distance away, almost a day's ride at a slow pace but half a day on a fresh horse. Merlin intended to just tell Gaius what happened and then leave again, travelling back down to the Isle. Blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes Merlin ran down the corridor.

In truth, it would be impossible for Merlin to get a single wink of sleep. To get home Merlin had to travel through the night, hoping to avoid bandits and the other horrors of the night. He supposed that he could nap a little once he got back to the Isle, before the meeting resumes. Maybe Gaius had some sort of potion that would allow him to regain some energy or maybe there was a spell that he could use.

He was glad he had such form of relief; he didn't envy Arthur who would have to make the trip without any energy boosters. But, he supposed, Arthur would have to be used to that. It would be one of the many requirements of being a Prince. If Arthur was where Merlin predicted, then the council chamber where Uther stayed would busy.

Morgana would have the same problem, but disrupted nights were very common for her. Almost daily she would get woken up from some nightmare. Poor Gwen would stay in the anti-chamber all night, never going to home ready to comfort Morgana from the latest dream.

When Merlin arrived at Gaius' door he slowed down, and waited outside listening for voices. He didn't want to enter Gaius' chambers whilst someone else was in there. But hearing no telltale signs that Gaius had company, Merlin slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

The chambers had not changed much since he was last in the room. A sparkling clean Leech Tank stood in the corner whilst the main table was still messy with books and other scientific objects. The bed that Gaius' slept on every night was unmade and he could see some clothes just thrown around the room. In the corner of the room, next to the window stood Gaius.

"Gaius!" The physician turned around, his face breaking into a big smile when he saw who was at the door.

"Merlin!" Gaius called back and quickly strode over to where the young warlock stood. Now that he was moving closer, Merlin could see a few things different about his mentor that he had not noticed before, when he was a long way off.

For one, his clothes that were normally neat were creased and dirty; the hem was torn and the sleeve was ripped. Gaius' white longish hair was plastered to his face, wet and dreary. Under his eyes Merlin could see deep black lines, showing exhaustion and stress.

Gaius went to give Merlin a hug, but Merlin grabbed his arm and looked into Gaius' face. Something had been` worrying the old man and Merlin needed to find out.

"Gaius," Merlin began, "What has happened to you?"

His mentor brushed away Merlin's worry with a wave of his hand, "Nothing, my boy. Just a busy night."

Merlin had a suddenly sense of reversed roles. Here he was, trying to get Gaius not to lie to him and trying to help and understand what was troubling him, whilst Gaius was lying and brushing off any concern for him.

"Gaius." His voice was stern, a tone that Gaius had recently used on him.

Something about his tone obviously made Gaius cave in, "I have been worried, for you Merlin. But no matter you are safe now."

Truly, Merlin felt touched but he just decided to report what happened to Gaius. He gathered his thoughts together and begun to talk to Gaius as quickly as possible.

He told Gaius everything, well, _almost _everything. He didn't mention that he had spoken with Arthur; Gaius would only reprimand him for that. He did not say that Morgana spoke in front of everyone; forging a different person call Morgan le Fay. And he most definitely did not tell Gaius how Morgana now knows who is he and everything about him; his powerful position and his magic.

"...and so I decided to head back to Camelot to find out who the traitor was and talk to you." Merlin finished. He stood silently, staring at Gaius with a grim expression on his face. Whilst he was explaining he realised just what was at stake if he and Gaius did not work out a good plan. Everything that Merlin knew would disappear and the world would fall into chaos.

But how could he find out who the traitor was? There were hundreds of people in Camelot, each of whom could be a possible sorcerer. Merlin could always use his new found gift; his 'sixth-sense', to try and find sorcerers but walking around in the castle with glowing golden eyes would raise a few too many questions.

He would have to go deeper and find out the doings of the castle. Uther would what to keep someone with sorcerer connects close by, just in case they end up being a sorcerer or they betray the kingdom. But Uther would also hide what was happening from Camelot; there were things that commoners did not need to find out.

As Merlin pondered in thought Gaius spoke again, "I do not know any specific facts about how Uther found out about the meeting, but people in the castle are starting to sense that something is amiss. I am not sure on how Uther is dealing with this. Maybe-"

But Gaius broke off whatever he was saying when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs outside his chambers. Merlin froze. Gaius' and Merlin's eyes met for a moment, until they both jumped into action.

Gaius quickly opened up the nearest book on the table, something about anatomy, and pretended to be absorbed in it. Merlin sat down on the stool near the table and stuffed his cloak underneath it. He spotted Gaius' uneaten food on the other side of the table and reached for it. He hadn't eaten a decent meal in a while, only having bread whilst he was travelling on the horse.

Ignoring the annoyed look on Gaius' face Merlin began to eat the food like a starved rat. Merlin's eyes followed a fly that was buzzing around his head as he ate. A flash of golden and the fly dropped to the floor, dead.

The door slammed open and Merlin jumped, his eyes quickly fading from gold to blue. He looked over to the door and his heart sunk. He quickly lowered his eyes, refusing to meet Morgana's angry gaze. Breathing deeply, Merlin prepared for the accusations and the anger; just like the ones at the Isle.

But Morgana didn't say anything, just moved aside to allow someone else to step into the room. It was Gwen.

Gwen looked like she had been crying; and Merlin felt a small pull in his heart to think that Gwen was in pain. He had almost forgotten about Gwen, with everything that had been happening and he wondered what she knew. Though Morgana was very close to Gwen, Merlin doubted that she told Gwen the truth. Merlin knew that Morgana hadn't even planned on telling Merlin that she was at the meeting.

"Merlin!" Gwen squealed and rushed forwards, only to stop awkwardly just before she got to him.

Merlin finished his mouthful and replied carefully, his eyes darting to Morgana, "Hey Gwen."

"Hello Merlin," a small amount of bitterness filled Morgana's voice and Merlin flinched, his eyes going back to Gwen. He hoped that she had not noticed anything but he was slightly alarmed to see a small frown on her forehead and she looked between himself and Morgana, "We were just wondering whether you were in or not because yesterday you were out someone. Herb-picking was it?"

Stifling a sigh of relief, Merlin replied to Morgana's question; glad that Gaius had made up a cover story for him, "Yes, I was getting some herbs for Gaius." With his hand he motioned to the old man, who glanced up when his name was spoken.

"Gaius!" Gwen jumped in surprise, "I didn't see you there!"

Gaius closed the book and stood up, "Yes. When you are reading you often disappear into the background.

"Oh, right," Gwen spoke, slightly embarrassed.

Glancing towards Morgana, Merlin realised that Gaius would have to find out that Morgana knows; they both needed his guidance. He turned back to Gaius and tried to make signals with his eyes; glancing at Morgana. Somehow, Gaius understood what Merlin was trying to say and spoke again.

"Merlin got me some wormwood last night, but I might need some other herbs as well. Merlin," Merlin drew his eyes away from Morgana, "I need you to get me some more now. Right now."

Merlin froze, "I-

"May I come as well?" Morgana spoke over Merlin, "I really need to go somewhere before I get too suffocated by the Castle."

"Yes that would be a very good idea," Gaius spoke again, "Gwen, I am really sorry but I need someone to help with handing out these medicines." He motioned over to some bottles on a shelf; bottles which Merlin was meant to hand out the day before.

Merlin studied Gwen's face closely, trying to see if she was put out with not joining Morgana and himself. But Merlin could see no unhappiness in the selfless girl's face.

"That is fine, Gaius." Gwen smiled at the physician.

"Very well," Gaius started to hand some bottles over to Gwen, "You can start now Gwen. Merlin, Morgana, stay behind so I can give you the list of what you need to get."

Merlin and Morgana watched and Gaius instructed Gwen on whom to give what bottle too. Occasionally Merlin could feel Morgana's gaze on his back but he did not turn around to the seer.

After filling the girl's hands up with every bottle on the shelf Gaius ushered her out and shut the door behind her. Merlin stiffened as Gaius turned around, looking at the two sorcerers. Merlin did not make a sound, watching Morgana carefully. Morgana stood a little in front of him and was staring at Gaius. The mood in the room darkened as the sun went behind a cloud. With Gwen not in the room, everything had become more dangerous.

"So!" Merlin watched as Gaius made a half-hearted attempt at cheering up the room. He did not listen to his mentor and just stared at Morgana'. She did not turn around but broke into Gaius' rambling.

"You need not hide anything from me Gaius," Morgana's voice was low and dangerous, a small reminder of how sorcerers could be so dangerous. Automatically Merlin took a small step back, appalled at how dark Morgana sounded. Her voice was full of hurt and betrayal, a sure sign that she had not forgiven Merlin for his lies. He hung his head down low and whilst Morgana turned around. Morgana's eyes followed the movement. Her lips tightened for a moment.

"I-what?" Gaius stuttered, looking towards Merlin for an explanation but Merlin wouldn't met Gaius' eyes.

"Do not pretend," Morgana ordered coldly, "We all know that Merlin is a powerful sorcerer."

The old book that Gaius was holding dropped to the floor with a bang; it's binding snapping on impact. But the owner of the book couldn't care less. He was too busy looking from Morgana to Merlin.

Merlin's heart sunk even lower. He was half-afraid that Gaius would yell at him or something. Morgana was still glaring at him, betrayal written all over her face.

"What?" Gaius looked between Morgana and Merlin, his head shaking from side to side, "How? How-what?"

"You didn't know?" Morgana's voice was light, but mocking. Merlin flinched again and had to turn away from those unforgiving eyes, "Though, I am not surprised. It seems that somebody thought it okay to lie to everyone close to him, even when they have released their deepest, darkest secrets to him."

Merlin couldn't turn away from her, no matter how hard he tried. In truth, he truly did betray her; allowing her to become vulnerable and honest to him and not returning the honesty. Though there was little time left, Merlin felt that he needed to give her an explanation.

"Morgana, please," Merlin tried to keep his voice even, "I know you are angry. You have every right to be angry. Just please listen to me." Morgana did not move, "I was born with magic. For most of my life I have been able to move objects with my mind. Only since I have come to Camelot did I learn different magic.

"As I told you on the Isle I use it to save Arthur's life? Is it wrong not to tell him because I fear for my life? Arthur's views on magic keep changing constantly; I cannot see what the best time for telling the truth is. Every time I put it off, the betrayal just becomes worse and worse."

Here Merlin paused again, pleading with his eyes, "Morgana, I know it was wrong not to tell you about my magic but I was just so used not telling anyone about it. And I was afraid that someone else might find out from you," Morgana's mouth opened angrily and Merlin hurried on, "Not that I think you will tell anyone! Just sorcerers have a way of finding out the truth and if word spreads to Camelot and Arthur-" Merlin did not need to finish.

All was silent for a moment in the room, Gaius still looking from Morgana to Merlin. Morgana was just staring at Merlin; unmoving.

A few more moments then; "Very well, Merlin. I will think on what you have said."

Merlin could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Though the situation had not changed much, Merlin was very sure that Morgana wouldn't betray him; not with so much at stake.

Reaching under the table, mindful of Gaius' and Morgana's eyes on him, Merlin pulled out his bag and cloak. Outside, he could hear a distant clip-clop of horse hooves. He hurried over to the window and looked out, just in time to see a small figure leave the courtyard on a horse. The figure was obviously Arthur; Merlin could tell by his cloak and the way that Arthur was almost falling asleep on the horse.

Merlin blinked and struggled to open his eyes, a reminder of how tired he really was. He turned away from the window to look at Gaius and Morgana again, who hadn't moved at all. Merlin moved back over to them.

"Arthur has just left Camelot; we should leave too if we want to get to the Isle on time." Morgana nodded and started to walk away but Gaius called her back.

"Here," Gaius passed over two small bottles of potion, "These potions will regain your strength slightly."

Merlin took one and Morgana took the other. Together they swallowed the potion and gagged. Already Merlin could feel the potion starting to take effect.

"Thank you Gaius," Morgana started to walk out and Merlin followed. Just as he reached the door Merlin looked back at Gaius, giving off a pained expression.

The old man just nodded, "I will be here when you get back. Good luck."

Merlin followed Morgana out the door.

* * *

"I asked Gwen about any odd happenings in the castle; say an unexpected guest or anything else. She told me that a sorcerer had been captured; a servant that had been accused of magic. Male servant had been working in the castle for about two years now. Remind you of anyone?" Morgana glanced behind her to Merlin who was riding behind her on his horse. Though Merlin had his black cloak on with the hood up, she could quite easily imagine Merlin expression.

They were riding on the path down south again, cantering for most of the way. Morgana was leading, wearing the same green cloak as before and Merlin followed her close behind. He had taken the time to change into different clothes and had donned the pitch black cloak. They had stopped for a quick lunch, but they kept glancing at the sun. They could not afford to be late.

Gaius' energy potion had worked well and Merlin did find himself always wanting to lie down and sleep. He was still a little tired but it was bearable.

For most of the journey they had spent it in silence, gazing out over the plains and the White Mountains. The wind continually whipped in their face, making them both shiver. Winter was only days away.

Merlin kept his face blank, not reacting to Morgana's jibe. He sat in silence, but he was glad that Morgana trusted him enough to talk to him and ride with him.

"There was something else as well," Morgana continued, looking forwards. From the path they could see the long black line on the horizon that was the sea. "Gwen told me, that she found out from Chelsea, who found out from a guard that Arthur and Uther had a visitor in the Great Hall. A woman who came bearing mysterious news. She was granted a room for the coming nights, as if Uther wanted to keep her close. Nothing was announced at court about her; I believe that she is the traitor.

A flicker of hatred passed through Merlin's mind, he could not believe that another sorcerer would betray her entire kind.

"What do you know about her?" Merlin spoke softly underneath his hood. His voice was full of hatred and bitterness that surprised him.

_Really Merlin, _he thought, _you haven't even found if this woman really is the traitor or if Morgana's information is wrong. Why have you become so judgemental?_

Morgana glanced back, "I asked Gwen more about her, her name is Tyler. That is about all that known about her. But a servant had commented on how demanding Tyler was, even though she could be nothing more than just a simple peasant."

"Anything else?" Merlin asked, "What she looks like?"

"Nothing," Morgana replied, "I didn't get the chance to ask Gwen anymore."

They continued on in silence.


	12. The Second Meeting

**Chapter 12 – The Second Meeting**

When Merlin and Morgana reached the Isle, Merlin tied his horse, Lynelle, to the same tree trunk that he had the night before. A strong breeze blew from within the Isle, whipping Merlin's cloak around. As a particularly strong gust blew in, Merlin had to reach up and grab his hood otherwise, it would have blown off.

Merlin walked to the boatyard quickly, looking left and right for any sign of Arthur. He had left Morgana on the path a while back; they both had thought it would be better if Merlin was seen alone. Merlin feared slightly for her safety, she had already almost been attacked once by Griffith because of what she had said at the last meeting.

As he walked to the boats he could but help notice the sorcerers that stood and sat in groups off the path. Every time he drew near they would break off whatever they were saying and stare at him without blinking. Occasionally a sorcerer, mainly ones that he recognised as being on Rion or Griffith's side, would yell out insults. The insults were loud and clear and easily heard over the muttering. Merlin repressed a shudder as a middle-aged witch yelled out something extremely offensive.

By the time that he had reached the boatyard, Merlin had almost lost all hope. How could he save Camelot and take over these sorcerers when they all thought so little of him? He would have to become less mysterious and more imposing; something to scare the sorcerers a little. The Old Merlin would never have done such a thing but he could slowly feel himself changing. Only recently had Merlin's thoughts taken a sour turn thanks to all the stress and pressure put on him.

The burden of duty was a heavy one, but Merlin would give his life and his soul for Arthur. Arthur must live, no matter what the cost.

Yet Merlin knew deep down that he wouldn't be getting out of this mess unscathed; even if he did win. Something would change, whether it was to do with his physical appearance or his personality. And he feared that change. Now more than ever, Merlin wished things to be back as they were before he had accepted Magnar's invitation.

Merlin's thoughts strayed to his magic, or more specifically, his 'Sixth Sense'. He remembered Magnar's face when he began using that special branch of magic quite clearly. Before Magnar had just seemed cocky; glad that he had a powerful sorcerer wrapped around his finger. Now though...Merlin did not know what Magnar thought of him.

Even though Merlin knew that he was being manipulated by Magnar, that didn't stop the wave of relief coming over him when he spotted the man standing by the first boat. Merlin walked up to him, ignoring the latest insults that were being thrown at him.

As Merlin walked closer Magnar turned around and stepped into the first boat. Understanding what was going on, Merlin followed close behind, trying not to fall into the water. It would not look good for a powerful sorcerer such as himself to trip and fall into the water.

When Merlin had gotten comfortable in the boat Magnar spoke to the boat and it began to move out towards the Isle. Somehow, the Isle seemed darker than usual; the shadows were longer and the mist seemed to be more forbidding. Merlin tore his eyes away from the daunting ruin that rose from the lake and looked at Magnar.

Magnar did not look any different than when Merlin had seen him last. His clothes were still the same, and he held himself in the same way. But as Merlin looked closer he saw black circles under Magnar's eyes. The sorcerer had not slept well the night before. Merlin pondered why, but could come to no conclusion.

They sat in silence as the boat slowly made its way to the Isle. The sun was still visible over the horizon but it was rapidly falling. After the boat had reached the halfway mark between the boatyard and the Isle, Merlin broke the silence.

"What news, Magnar?"

He did not have to mention what he was referring to; they both knew exactly what was on the others mind.

Magnar sighed, once, and then spoke without any emotion, "My lord. It is not looking good. As you commanded, the others and I that you spoke to privately went out to look for anyone who could join our side. Our side is commanded by you, Breri and Morgan le Fay. You sent twenty of us out and I am sad to say that we only returned with ten more on our side. Everyone except Morgan Le Fay reported back to me." He spoke as if he did not trust her, at which Merlin was very annoyed at.

Merlin replied softly, "Morgan Le Fay told me that she could not find anyone else to join our side. But ten more is better than none."

Magnar grunted, which Merlin took as an agreement.

He continued, lowering his voice even more and unintentionally filling it with hate and spite, "On another note, do you know a sorceress by the name of Tyler?"

Magnar frowned and was silent for a moment, "No Tyler, but I do know a few others with names like that. Why do you ask?"

Merlin was about to reply with something about how Arthur was at the meeting but he realised what he was about to do and quickly snapped his mouth shut. Breathing deeply through his nose, Merlin tried to calm himself. He had almost betrayed Arthur to a sorcerer that Merlin did not know that he could trust completely, and he could not afford to do that. He would have to tell Magnar something, because his companion was now looking at him oddly, but he could not tell the whole truth.

Quickly rethinking his words, Merlin replied, "I believe that there is a spy in this meeting. When I returned to Camelot this morning, there was a woman in Camelot's guest chambers that I could sense was a sorceress," he lied about the 'sensing' part but most of the rest was true, "I only found out her name, Tyler, before I had to leave. But before I left, I broke into Uther's chambers and found papers; reports on the Isle, how it is set out, how the meeting runs and everything that only a spy would know."

Thinking back, Merlin realised that most of his words were lies, but they had to be said. Before Magnar had the chance to reply he continued, "So if there is no Tyler, maybe she was using a fake name. For a person to betray their own kind like that, she would want something; fame, power or money. Maybe all three. Do you know anyone that has a name like Tyler, who was invited to the meeting and has not turned up, and who would be tempted by fame, power or money?"

Magnar was silent and still, his face scrunched up in thought. Occasionally he would use his fingers to count but Merlin just kept staring at the Isle that was getting closer. Just as the boat had almost reached the Isle Magnar let out a gasp of understanding and almost fell out of the boat.

"What?" Merlin asked, grasping Magnar's arm so he wouldn't fall out of the boat.

"Of course," breathed Magnar, looking out towards the sun, "I should have realised."

"What? Who do you think it is?"

Magnar stayed silent for a moment, then spoke, "A very bad witch by the name of Tyra."

"Tyra?"

"Tyra is a simple witch, never was very powerful or magical. But oh, she wanted power. She was very ambitious. I remember her at the meeting before this one, before you came. She strutted around like a queen, barking orders and expecting them to be done. Terrible she was."

"It would be her," Magnar continued, "I can easily check at the end of this meeting. I can even dispose of her if you wish."

Unexpectedly, a rage starting building up in Merlin. His checks redden and he clenched his fists so tightly that blood started to come out from where his fingernails had pierced his skin. The hate that resided within him was directed at Tyra's name. Merlin longed to show her what happens when people defy him. He longed to show her suffering like she had never seen it before.

"No," he growled at Magnar, his voice low and cold, "I will deal with her."

For a moment, Merlin could have sworn that Magnar's eyes lit up in malice and triumph but it was gone as soon as Merlin blinked.

Magnar dipped his head, "Very well, my lord."

As Magnar spoke Merlin's rage disappeared as quickly as it had come on. He shook his head, appalled at what he had said.

_What is causing all this anger? _He thought to himself, _Surely stress doesn't make you this angry?_

Merlin had no time to ponder this as they had arrived at the altar where Merlin's charm was to lay. Magnar stood on the other side of the altar looking at where Merlin kept the charm under his cloak.

But Merlin was not ready to make the call, with a quick glance at the falling sun he began speaking.

"Magnar, I need your help. You have noticed that things aren't going well at all. The sorcerers have truly begun to doubt me and I need to make sure they don't. I have worked out why I kept failing at keeping myself together as Emrys. It is me, Merlin, emotions. They keep getting in the way.

"Is it possible, is there some way that I can suppress myself and let Emrys take over most of my thoughts. I cannot afford to fail."

He looked up at Magnar and noticed a barely suppressed grin. He wondered why Magnar felt the urge to smile but did not pursue the thought. There was enough on his mind already.

"It is possible, my lord," Magnar started off slowly, "I could keep your thoughts away from what Merlin would think and focus on Emrys. I can do that now if you want. But do you really want to do this? Do you really want to protect Camelot this much?"

Merlin knew the answer, "For Camelot I would do anything."

He wished he could say Arthur.

Magnar nodded, "Very well, my lord." He closed his eyes.

In his mind, Merlin felt Magnar's mind weave closer to his own. He cleared his brain of thought to help Magnar come in and, well, _invade _his mind.

A cold gust of wind blew over Emrys as the mind block was completed.

* * *

Emrys looked over the hundred or so sorcerers that sat around him. His eyes swept, noting everyone's position. He could easily see whose side everyone was on now, the dividing lines becoming all too clear.

On one side, the northern side, sat Rion, Griffith and Tryamon with their followers surrounding them. Every one of them looked triumphant; mocking smiles following Emrys wherever he turned. On the southern side of the Isle sat his, Breri's and Morgan le Fay's side. Compared to the others they looked small and diminutive. It did not help that Breri kept shooting Griffith fearful glances as he sat in the front row with Morgan le Fay.

Emrys' lips tightened as he considered the third group, the group that made the circle around the altar whole. They were the ones that Emrys was counting on the most. They were the undecided.

Among them sat Arthur, who had obviously stuck with the group that he was most comfortable in. Nobody had given him a second glance either.

Arthur. The name meant almost nothing to Emrys now. The block on his mind prevented any thought about the friendship that they had. He was just another man that Emrys needed to protect.

"Sorcerers, Sorceresses, Seers, Witches, Warlock and all manner of other magical persons. Welcome to the second meeting," tonight he sounded more imposing, less like the mysterious hooded figure that he was before.

"Tonight we will vote on how to return magic to Camelot. Do we capture Arthur and use him against Uther? Do we go for all out war? Do we try and find a more peaceful method. We will vote in an hour. For now; we will discuss everyone's views. You first Griffith."

It would be polite to start with Griffith, even though Emrys knew he would not like what he heard.

"Thank you Emrys," Griffith spoke, his voice mocking and a sneer plastered over his face, "I still stand on what I said yesterday; Uther needs to die. He will go to hell and he will suffer as all those other people that he had put to death suffered. Though it wasn't my first choice, I am fine with Rion's views to use Arthur to get to him. It would just cause Uther more pain. I will do it for revenge. I will do it for my little angel, Anna. I will kill Uther for her."

"But is that what she wants?" A voice came from behind Emrys. Everyone in the vicinity turned around to see Morgan le Fay standing up and almost yelling at Griffith. Emrys cursed under his breath, obviously Morgan had been too enraged to keep her temper in check, "Is that what your daughter, Anna, wants? Does she want to see her father kill another man? Does she want to see hundreds die for her sake. I think not, any child her age would not. And what about your wife? Is she as bloodthirsty as you are? Does she want to see hundreds dying?"

"You know nothing of my wife!" Griffith leapt out of his chair and crossed to Morgan, who rose up in response. Next to Morgan Breri shrunk into his chair, looking fearfully at Griffith but the man did not give him the slightest bit of attention, "You will not speak about her in that way! You do not know her!"

Griffith and Morgan le Fay stood close together, both breathing heavily. Behind Griffith Emrys stood still, ready to jump in if he was needed.

"And it seems that you don't either if you are going to taint her memory by causing more pain!" Morgan ploughed on recklessly. Emrys winced, and stepped forwards, ready to interrupt.

"You-" Griffith spoke, his voice underlined with pain and hatred, "How can you say that? You- who are you to speak to me like this!"

Morgan stepped back, "I-"

"Show me who you are!" commanded Griffith reaching forwards to rip of Morgan's hood, one hand gripped tightly around her wrist.

"No-" Morgan breathed, trying to break free.

Emrys stepped forwards just as Griffith ripped the hood away from Morgan's face. Emrys froze, and looked towards Arthur who was staring at Morgan in shock. The crowds of sorcerers gasped and started pointing and muttering. Breri's mouth dropped open.

And Morgan le Fay, or the Lady Morgana as she was known to the sorcerers now, looked around with a stunned gaze.


	13. Morgana le Fay

**Chapter 13 – Morgana le Fay**

Arthur stared at Morgana in shock as her eyes darted around, looking at the surrounding sorcerers in fear. Every single sorcerer was pointing at her and muttering in astonishment and surprise. Nearby Arthur could hear two witches whispering. He could only catch the odd word from them.

"…..King's Ward……"

"…..spy?"

"Is she magical?"

The last sentence rang in his mind. _Is she magical? _Immediately he thought no. There was no way that Morgana could be a witch or a sorceress. He had grown up with the girl, argued with her, agreed with her, annoyed her and teased her. There had never been any sign that she was a sorcerer. And if she really was a sorcerer, why would she learn magic? Sorcerers were the spawn of the devil; they lived on corruption and hatred, always wanting revenge. The conversation that _Morgan le Fay _had with Griffith had only proved that.

_I sound like my father. _Arthur suddenly realised. Weirdly the though sickened him. He knew why the thought repulsed him slightly; it had only been a day since he had last spoken to Emrys alone. The conversation was still clear in Arthur's head. How Emrys had talked about that sorcerer who protected another human without the human's knowledge. Did sorcerers do this often and was Morgana one of them?

Or was Morgana one of those sorcerers who hated Uther? Arthur knew that once Uther was like a father to Morgana but he wasn't so sure any longer. Recently their arguments on how the kingdom was run had been taken to a more personal level. Sure there had been small fights before, but now Morgana was putting her head on the line, literally, to fight against some of Uther's campaigns.

Arthur couldn't help notice that only recently Morgana had fought very strongly, stronger than usual, against Uther hunting and killing anyone with the slightest amount of magical ability. She had yelled at Uther, screamed at him, threatened him and then tried to break the accused magician out of the dungeons.

But then Arthur remembered what she was like at the meetings, as Morgan le Fay. She had fought for peace and not to harm either himself or Uther. Did this mean that she was really trying to protect him? Arthur frowned, but then she couldn't be a sorceress because no sorceress would protect Camelot. Arthur's head started spinning.

Another thought struck him. _Sorcerers do protect Camelot; Breri, Emrys and others, even that unnamed warlock that Emrys mentioned. _So Morgana could be a sorceress then, if she was one of those. It would also explain how she knew of this meeting; Uther had chosen never to mention it to her. But a part of Arthur would not believe that Morgana was a sorceress, it hurt him too much.

"You!"

Griffith's angry voice pierced through Arthur's spinning thoughts. He jumped and focused once more at the scene in front of him.

Griffith had jumped back from Morgana in shock but was moving back up towards her, his eyes ablaze with fury. The sorcerers around her; including Breri, had backed away slightly muttering to themselves and shaking their heads. Rion had stood up as did her followers but she did not move from her place. Emrys had frozen and was staring at Morgana. But Arthur could see by the way that he held his body that it wasn't in shock. More like fear.

_Why would Emrys be afraid of Morgana? _Arthur thought, _unless he already knew. _His stomach plunged and he hoped that it was not true.

"What are you doing here? Are you spying for the King? Why have you come here?" Griffith swung around to Magnar who did not look at all surprised that Morgana was here, "Did you invite her?"

"I did." Magnar replied softly and all of the sorcerers at the meeting looked around in confusion. Arthur's heart sped up a little; only sorcerers could get an invite. He looked over at Morgana again, and did not miss the frightened glance that she gave him. So she knew he was here then.

"Traitor! You brought her here to spy on us! To report back to the King!" Griffith spat.

"I am not a traitor," Magnar's voice was low and dangerous, "My orders are to invite every sorcerer, sorceress, witch, warlock and seer in the land and I did so."

"Are you suggesting that Morgana, _the _Lady Morgana, the King's Ward, is actually magical?" Tryamon spoke up, moving from her position over next to Griffith.

"That is for her to say," Magnar replied, looking over Griffith's shoulder to the frightened Morgana. Every sorcerer's eyes riveted back onto her, including Arthur's. Arthur's breathing came in short gasps now, much to his chagrin. He tried to keep his breathing under control but the suspense of the situation was too much.

Morgana's eyes met Arthur's again and Arthur watched as she seemed to draw strength from within herself. She sighed once and spoke loudly.

"I am a seer."

For a moment Arthur stopped breathing as the declaration was made. He kept silent as the sorcerers gasped again and started to talk amongst themselves. He just kept staring at Morgana, who looked away from him and over to Emrys. Arthur thought he saw something apologetic cross her face but then it was gone. His suspicion that Emrys knew who Morgana was before this meeting was raised a little higher.

Arthur clung onto the last shred of hope that he had; the thought that Morgana could be lying to save her own skin, but he knew that everything pointed the other way.

Griffith, Magnar and Tryamon stayed silent for a moment until Griffith's started laughing, "And do you expect us to believe you! You could be, and you probably are, lying!"

"I am not," Morgana's angry voice filled the room as the sorcerers fell silent once again, "I had a dream about this meeting days ago. I had a dream that I would be found out tonight! Nightmares I call them. And to Uther, nightmares are all I have. No magical powers, not visions of the future!"

"It's true," a timid voice came out from the masses of Rion's followers, "In Camelot, it's common knowledge that the Lady Morgana has often suffered from nightmares, since she was a little girl."

"And what's more," Morgana continued, "Magnar can tell whose magical or not. What would he gain by bringing me here? Nothing!"

Silence had descended over the Isle as the sorcerers and Morgana waited for Griffith's response. A few glanced over to Emrys, wondering why he had not said anything yet. But Emrys was just staring at Morgana, not saying a word.

"What would he gain?" Griffith slowly began, "You're right. Magnar would gain nothing. So maybe you are a seer, maybe you're not. It does not matter."

"It doesn't?" Morgana breathed and Arthur could see relief filling her face. He had no doubt that it was filling his as well. Morgana was somewhat out of trouble.

"But I can gain a lot from having you here," Griffith continued.

A pang of fear went through Arthur. What did Griffith mean? Morgana's face rapidly changed from relief to fear again, "What-what do you mean?"

Griffith smiled and he took a step towards to Morgana. To Morgana's credit she didn't step back, even though the next few moments could decide her fate. Arthur approved of her courage, but he knew that the level of her courage would not change the situation at all.

"Because the plan that Rion and Tryamon do little to quench my thirst for revenge. No bloodshed is the way to go but I see myself being outvoted here so I must comply. But there was nothing in the plan about Morgana so why not show Uther how far we mean to go to return magic? I have heard that Uther cares a lot for his ward, just like I cared for my little Anna. Why not make him have the pain that I…we all…. felt when he slaughtered our kind? We must kill his ward, and Uther must see it."

Silence filled the Isle and even Morgana's heavy breathing stopped for a moment.

Blood pounding through Arthur's head as he considered Griffith's words. He hated the man for saying such things. Killing Morgana? He would not let anyone harm her at all. It wouldn't just hurt Uther to see Morgana die; it would hurt everyone in Camelot; including himself. He would have to stop Griffith somehow.

Arthur saw red but he controlled his anger enough so that he could get a few coherent thoughts through. One of which was that it wouldn't be a good idea for him to attack Griffith right this minute. Instead he marched forwards, pushing a couple of sorcerers away and walked in front of Morgana. Wisely he did not pull out his sword for it would be a clear sign that he was not magical.

Griffith, Emrys, Magnar, Tryamon and every other sorcerer in the Isle turned to look at him but Arthur's rage was so strong, his protectiveness for Morgana so strong that he did not back away from the attention. Instead he squared his shoulders and spoke loudly and clearly, making sure that his hood was in place.

"You will do no such thing."

Arthur's statement rang throughout the Isle, his voice a little different so that it would not be recognisable. The sorcerers looked surprised as they stared at him, wondering who he was. Arthur only had eyes for Griffith, who looked quite taken aback.

Nearby, in the corner of his eye Arthur saw Emrys shift slightly. Emrys sighed something, his voice filled with fear, pain and shock; "No..."

Arthur frowned as Emrys spoke, his eyes quickly darted over to the Leader but Emrys did not say anything more. He hadn't moved much, but Arthur could see that he was in shock.

"What?" Griffith almost stuttered with surprise.

"I said, you will-" Arthur started to repeat.

"I heard what you said," Griffith interrupted angrily, "And you wish to protect Uther's ward? From me? You wish to stop me from seeking out my revenge?"

"Yes."

Silence, and then, "Very well. Stop me."

Arthur paused, and then realised he had one disadvantage, "How can I know that you won't just tell all of your supporters to attack me?"

Griffith laughed, "You know how to play your cards. Very well. I will challenge you to a fight till we die. You against me, alone. If I win, I go through with my revenge. If you win, Morgana is your responsibility. You can let her go or whatever. Just make sure that she doesn't go running back to Uther. The fight will happen in half an hour, here. Accept?"

Not hesitating Arthur replied, "Accept."

Another small sigh came from Emrys, a little bit more desperate and loud, "No!"

Griffith had heard it and turned to Emrys, "What Emrys? Not liking the turn of events. But you cannot intervene, we both know that. I will be here in half-an-hour." With that he walked away, a small trickle of sorcerer followers trailing behind him.

Emrys finally moved and Arthur watched as he walked to the altar where the charm was, and pressed his hands on it. A stream of magic words came out of his mouth and the charm's glow dimmed slightly. He turned around and stared at Arthur, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Suddenly Emrys walked over to Arthur and grabbed one of his arms and started to lead him off. Arthur resisted for a moment but knew that it was hopeless. He allowed himself to be pulled away.

"Keep Morgana safe," Emrys spoke quietly to Breri, who nodded. Emrys glanced once at Morgana and then led Arthur off to the Southern side of the Isle, beyond the main circle of chairs and to the edge of the lake.

* * *

"What were you thinking!" Emrys yelled at Arthur. He had led Arthur off to the edge of the Isle for a private conversation. He wished that he had intervened before Arthur had accepted Griffith's terms for a fight but shock had completely consumed his body. It had also weakened the block on his mind a little and that, more then anything, had made Emrys freeze. Magnar was still supplying magic onto the block, just a little less then before. Emrys knew that Magnar was also in shock as to what had happened, and that Magnar was also sorting through his invitation list to work out who Arthur was.

Emrys would deal with that problem later; if there _was_ a later.

"I-I," Arthur stumbled over his words, "I protected Morgana."

"Oh, and you are doing a _brilliant _job at that," Emrys replied, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"You spoke of that warlock that protected a human," Arthur said hotly, "Why should this be any different?"

Emrys shook his head at Arthur's stupidity, "Because you have misjudged the situation completely! Griffith is one of the most powerful sorcerers here. You, on the other hand, are not. Now answer me, what will you do?"

Arthur paused but did not respond. Emrys knew that Arthur had no answer to that question. But then Arthur asked a question in return, "How do you know how powerful I am?"

For the first time Emrys faltered, "I-I could sense your magic."

Nodding, Arthur made to move away, "Then you know that I will be quite safe."

Not wanting Arthur to leave, Emrys' hand snaked out and gripped Arthur's arm again. Emrys knew Arthur, and could tell when he was lying through his teeth, "Stop risking your life like this. You go out and face Griffith, you will die."

"Then I die. I die knowing that I have protected Morgana."

Emrys sighed to himself. The conversation he was having with Arthur was very disjointed, each side not revealing the whole truth to the other. Arthur thought that he did not know who he was. Emrys could not warn him without revealing that he knew. So maybe he would have to.

"You risk the future of many by fighting. You are too important. If you die, many things will happen. Bad things."

Frowning, Arthur replied, "What things? Why do you say that I am important?"

Emrys sighed and spoke in a low tone, looking around to see if anyone was nearby, "I think we both know what I mean."

Arthur did not respond for a moment and Emrys knew he was trying to understand what had just been said. A few seconds later though Arthur raised his head and stepped back in horror, "No..."

Shaking his head impatiently and looking over to the Centre of the Isle Emrys responded, "Yes Arthur I know who you are. I have for a long time. But ignore that. You cannot fight! The whole future of Camelot rests on your shoulders."

Emrys did not flinch as Arthur drew a sword that he had kept under his cloak and pointed it at his neck. He was expecting this. Maybe if he was still Merlin he would not have said these things, he would not have taken these risks. But now that he was Emrys...

"Give me one reason sorcerer," Arthur spat, "Why I should not kill you now?"

A flicker of unease passed through Emrys but was soon cleared, "Because I have had many opportunities to kill you and haven't. I have not told anyone, not even Magnar, about you being here. And I also knew Morgana was here and have not harmed her at all. But for everyone's sake, _you must not fight!"_

Emrys could detect a hint of scorn in Arthur's voice as he replied, "That is what all sorcerers say."

"And I have little doubt that not many tell you to protect yourself and not fight," Emrys shot back, "You have to pull out of the fight. I can maybe clear up some of the mess that has been made..."

"_Maybe,_" Arthur broke in, "You said _maybe. _Then there is a chance that Morgana might not get through this?"

Truthfully, Emrys replied, "Yes."

"Then I shall fight," Arthur's tone made it clear that he would not change his mind. The sword was lowered and slipped back underneath his cloak. Emrys was about to respond but Arthur had not finished, "And then I shall kill you."

"Kill me?" Emrys was not shocked at all, but for Arthur's benefit he plastered a fake look of surprise on his face.

"Yes," Arthur replied, calmly, "You know who I am. There is little hope for Camelot. I will go through what I came to this meeting for."

"I-" Emrys started but then he was interrupted by another sorcerer approaching.

This sorcerer, he recognised, was from Griffith's group of followers and Emrys knew at once what he wanted. The sorcerer cleared his throat once as he approached the two, but stopped before he got too close. In a confident and slightly mocking tone he spoke to them.

"Griffith is ready for the fight."

"Very well," Arthur nodded in the sorcerers direction.

"No!" Emrys' loud voice cut through and the sorcerer jumped, "I will not allow him to fight."

"My lord," the sorcerer bowed low contemptuously, "I am afraid only the people involved in the fight can make decisions and withdraw. This man," he pointed at Arthur, "has accepted the challenge. So he must fight but if he does not wish to, he withdraws."

"I will not withdraw," Arthur stated.

"Very well," the sorcerer gripped one of Arthur's arms and led him away from Emrys. Arthur did not resist and walked with his head held high.

Emrys bit his lip as his heart pounded. Things were well out of his control now.


	14. Emrys to Merlin

**Chapter 14 – Emrys to Merlin**

_WHAM!_

Arthur groaned as a fireball slammed into his stomach. His clothes caught alight and with the hand that wasn't trying desperately to keep his hood over his face, he battered down his shirt trying to put the flames out. Around him sorcerers jeered and laughed at him, calling him names. Only a few stayed silent.

The last impact had forced him to fall over onto his back. Arthur struggled to his knees, focusing on his surroundings and making sure that he didn't pass out from pain and exhaustion. It had been a day or two since he had slept last and the tiredness was wearing away at his strength to resist the many spells that Griffith was flinging at him with obvious contempt.

Another spell came flying at him but Arthur managed to dodge it by flinging himself onto the ground, face first. He groaned as he tasted the gritty dirt and grass. Once again he struggled to get up, this time raising his head to look at Morgana.

Arthur was in the middle of the Isle, near the altar. The chairs had been cleared away to make room for the battle. Griffith stood a good ten feet away from him, laughing and showing off to the crowds of sorcerers that lined the edge of the Isle. Near him stood Emrys, who was not cheering or shouting but looked like he was ready to jump in at any time. Arthur knew that he could not, for the challenge that Griffith had made was fair and could not be broken. Once again Arthur was reminded just how alike Camelot's Knights and these sorcerers were; the Knight's Code and this sorcerers' battle almost being the same.

On the eastern side of the Isle, Morgana stood shaking in fear. She had not screamed once but every time that Arthur took a blow she would flinch. Gripping one of her arms was Breri, following Emrys' command to keep Morgana safe. Gripping the other arm was the nondescript sorcerer that had lead Arthur out to fight.

Another fireball flew towards Arthur and he only just managed to dive out of the way. Breathing heavily and getting to his feet Arthur backed away from Griffith as fast as he could. His stomach hurt from where the spell had connected but he tried to ignore the pain.

As he staggered back, Griffith called out, "What! Backing out now? Too afraid? It's obvious that I am stronger than you. You haven't even performed a single spell."

Arthur didn't even the energy to reply, which frustrated Griffith. In his anger, he released another fireball at Arthur who jumped behind the altar to avoid it. Crouching down, Arthur winced as the altar shook as another spell hit it. Nothing happened for a few moments, and Arthur allowed himself a small rest by lying on the ground. A throbbing pain consumed his stomach as he tenderly pressed his fingers to the burn that Griffith had made. He hissed in pain as he touched it and quickly withdrew his hand. Once again he checked his hood, making sure that it was still in place.

Slowly, he got to his knees and peeked around the corner of the altar. Quickly he withdrew his head, for he had seen Griffith slowly approach the altar from the right side. Arthur crawled over to the left side and looked around. He saw the sorcerers screaming but no one saw him. Only Emrys looked and noticed him peeking around the corners.

"Hello."

Arthur jumped and hurriedly got to his feet. Griffith grinned at him from where he stood, only a couple of feet from him. Without a word, Arthur ran. He sprinted around the altar and, unknowingly, to Emrys. He knew that running would be pointless, but it was a human instinct that was branded into his mind.

He heard a string of words coming from Griffith and felt the heat of another spell coming closer to him. No matter how much he tried, Arthur could not get his muscles to respond and move out of the way. With another grunt of agony Arthur was sent sprawling into the grass coming to a stop at the edge of the sorcerers' lines, just in front of Emrys' feet.

The sorcerers nearby spat and jeered. Arthur tried to get up and found he could not. All the energy had been sapped from his body, and it took all of his willpower not to fall unconscious.

_This is it: _he thought dully, _I am going to die._

Behind him, Griffith was cheering and yelling, preparing for the final blow. Arthur shut his eyes, preparing to die. His thoughts flashed to Morgana, but he could not get a clear picture of her in his mind. He was just so tired...

"You have to forfeit."

Arthur's eyes opened for a moment and he looked up, only to see Emrys bending over him. The sorcerers nearby were yelling at Emrys, telling him to move away. Any respect that Emrys once had as a leader had gone now.

"You must forfeit if you have any chance of saving Camelot and Morgana. You're not much good if you're dead." Emrys' voice was strained and low, just quiet enough that the surrounding sorcerers could not hear him.

"W-what will 'appen to Morgana?" Arthur struggled to get all of his words out. Darkness clouded his vision for a moment until he blinked and used his hand that was not holding his hood in place to rub his eyes.

"I will help her. Now you most withdraw!" Emrys straightened up, looking down at him.

With as must strength as he could muster, Arthur called out, trying to make sure that his words were not filled with pain and drowsiness, "I forfeit!"

A great groan came up from the sorcerers watching, and many of them started muttering angrily to each other. Griffith called back his spell before it could be released at Arthur. Emrys nodded and looked up to Griffith. Somewhere behind him Arthur could hear the voice of the sorcerer holding Morgana yell out, "Because the opponent has withdrawn from the challenge, this makes Griffith the rightful winner!"

A great cheer came up from the sorcerers. Arthur's eyes closed for a moment and he lay there, knowing that he had failed Morgana.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt. Arthur's eyes flew open to see Emrys pressing his fingers onto the wound on his stomach. He yelled in pain and the world swam in front of him. Emrys did not let go, instead proceeding to mutter some words under his breath.

Arthur saw in the blackness, under Emrys' hood a golden light. Next he became aware of a warm feeling coming from where Emrys' hand had pressed against his stomach. He groaned and shifted, but the warm feeling grew over the entire wound. After the shock of it had passed, Arthur realised that it was not uncomfortable, but rather soothing. The throbbing pain was slowly going away, and his strength returning.

A few seconds later and Arthur felt better. Not as good as he did before the fight but he was no longer falling into darkness. With Emrys' help he got to his feet, ignoring the taunting cries of the sorcerers.

"Can you stand on your own?" Emrys' voice was easily heard over the many sorcerers. Arthur nodded and let go of Emrys, who let go of Arthur. For a moment Arthur felt unsteady, but he soon found his footing. Slowly, he turned around to look at Griffith.

Griffith had finished yelling about his victory to the crowds now and was going over to collect his prize: Morgana. Breri had moved away from Morgan and was slowly making his way over to Emrys, dodging past the many sorcerers. The sorcerer that was holding Morgana's other arm thrust her out to Griffith.

Arthur watched as Griffith reached Morgana and grabbed her from the sorcerer. With both hands, he held her in front of him as he made his way over to the altar. Morgana struggled and threw pleading looks in Arthur's and Emrys' direction. Arthur did not move: he could not; he was still a little dizzy.

When he reached the altar, Griffith pushed Morgana onto it, ignoring the cry of pain that escaped her. Morgana's green cloak hung loosely around her shoulders and already her clothes look worse for wear. With one hand, Griffith held her down, pushing her back and upper body onto the altar whilst her legs hung over the edge. With the other hand he drew a small dagger from the folds of his cloak.

Griffith raised the dagger above his head and pointed it down at Morgana.

"For Anna," Griffith's voice was quiet. Morgana did not move, but continued to stare at Griffith. Arthur let a cry escape his lips.

Behind him, Emrys moved forwards, "Wait, Griffith!"

* * *

"Wait, Griffith!" Emrys knew he had to do something. The cry that had come from Arthur had forced Emrys into action. Furiously he tried to think of an idea in his head, some way to get Morgana out of immediate danger. As he approached Griffith hurriedly, he reached out with his hand and used magic to force the dagger out of Griffith's hand. It fell to the ground soundlessly.

"What are you doing Emrys? You cannot interfere." Griffith shot a livid looked at Emrys as he reached down to pick up the dagger but Emrys made the dagger fly away, over the walls surrounding the Isle and into the lake, leaving Griffith empty handed. The man cursed under his breath and looked up at Emrys.

"Listen to me Griffith!" Emrys filled the gap between himself and Griffith, "You should not kill Morgana."

"Oh and why is that?" Griffith replied, fury filling his voice.

"Because," Emrys darted a look over to Arthur who was standing still in shock, "Because if Rion's views do get voted upon then there is no need to go to Camelot to kidnap Arthur. You can just use Morgana."

Emrys spoke the words with all the intention of saving Morgana, but he knew that it would not seem this way. He could see hurt and betrayed looks coming from all of his followers; Breri and Morgana included. To avoid them feeling betrayed he quickly spoke with Magnar in his mind.

_Reassure them Magnar. Tell them I have not changed sides, only protecting Morgana._

_Done,_Magnar replied and broke off the connection between them.

Meanwhile, Griffith had been silent and Emrys hoped that he was thinking through what had just been said. It was important that he accepted the new idea, because then Emrys would still have a chance of smuggling Morgana out of there and into safety. Wherever or whatever safety was, Emrys had yet to decide.

Moments passed with Emrys breathing quickening in anticipation. Griffith then spoke quietly so that only Emrys could hear.

"When you say if Rion's views do get voted on, I take it that you're still on Breri's side." Emrys nodded and Griffith continued, making his voice louder so that everyone could hear, "Then my answer is yes."

Behind him Emrys heard a cry. He recognised it coming from Arthur and turned around, only to stumble back when the man in question pushed him. Cries of outrage came from all areas of the circle; even though some may not particularly like their leader, they would not stand for him being pushed around by some weak sorcerer. A hand raised by Emrys only just managed to stop them from all leaping on Arthur.

"How can you say that? How can you say that when you were just protecting her?" Arthur yelled. Emrys winced and tried to calm Arthur down by speaking softly. In his head he shot a question to Magnar angrily;

_I thought you reassured everyone Magnar!_

A moment or two passed then, _I ran out of time to get to him._

Growling Emrys lowered his voice so that only Arthur could hear him, "You idiot! I am trying to protect Morgana!"

"No," Arthur whispered back, "I no longer trust you. You could be doing this for your gain!"

Emrys was not strong enough to hold Arthur still and he soon broke free, racing towards Griffith, who was about to tie a rope around Morgana's wrist. He knew that the rope was only for show; Griffith could bind Morgana with his mind if he wanted to. But he also knew that Griffith liked showing off, and so he was waving the rope in the air to the surrounding crowd.

"No!" he cried out, just as Arthur leapt at Griffith.

* * *

With a cry of hopelessness, Arthur shook the tiredness from his eyes and started running over to Griffith. He pushed away any hands that tried to grab at him and ignored Emrys' call for him to stop. All that he could concentrate on was Morgana's frightened face and the rope.

Griffith had paused when he had heard the cry and was starting to turn around to find its source, at the same time, Arthur jumped onto his back, reaching for the rope. With a cry of shock, Griffith stumbled and crashed into the altar next to Morgana. Both Arthur and Griffith shook with the force of the fall, but Arthur managed to stay on Griffith's back.

Letting go of his hood, Arthur used both hands to wrestle the rope from Griffith's grasp. Behind him, Arthur could hear Emrys approaching and yelling for him to stop, but he didn't. Griffith let out another cry of shock and tried to keep hold of the rope but Arthur was too strong. With a grunt, Arthur pushed away from Griffith with the rope.

As he fell, the hood, no longer restrained by his hand, blew away from his face.

...

He froze in shock and all of the sorcerers gasped at once.

He knew that he was in serious trouble now. Everyone would recognise him, the son of Uther Pendragon. In fact, he was surprised that they weren't already shooting spells at him; maybe the shock had paralysed their bodies. He knew that this paralysis would not last; soon they would be attacking him.

For good reason as well. It was one thing that the King's Ward had been found at the meeting; Magnar had invited her and there was a chance that she really could be a seer. It is another for Uther Pendragon's Son to be found. Arthur knew that there was no chance at all that any of the sorcerers would think he had magic. He also knew that Magnar had not invited him which would be a clear message to all the sorcerers.

Nobody moved for a few seconds longer but Arthur knew that their shock was wearing off; soon they would leap at him. The smarter ones among them would not attack at once; instead they would try to make the others realise that there would be no need to use Morgana against Uther. Then, Arthur supposed, they would also realise that they really had two bargaining chips against Uther.

He had to move now.

"You!" Griffith pointed at him. Hastily, Arthur scrambled away from him. Behind him, Morgana's face was full of fear, but not for herself.

Then, Morgana did something that Arthur was eternally grateful for.

Griffith was slowly advancing towards him, each step sending a jolt of fear through Arthur, when he suddenly let out a groan of pain and doubled over. Arthur took that opportunity to quickly get to his feet and back away. Griffith whirled around, trying to see who had kicked him.

Behind him, with a defiant expression on her face, stood Morgana.

"Their in this together! The Lady Morgana and Arthur Pendragon!" a sorcerer screamed. His scream broke all of the sorcerers on the Isle from their daze.

Arthur knew that he had little time left and that he needed a plan to get Morgana and himself out of here. Thinking quickly, he looked over his shoulder. Behind him, Emrys stood, still in shock. Seizing the opportunity, Arthur drew out the dagger that he had kept under his sleeve for protection. He sprinted and dived at Emrys; hatred fuelling his determination.

To his surprise, Emrys did not use any spells against him but he pushed that thought away for now. He struggled to his feet and held Emrys' body against his own whilst he held the dagger to Emrys' neck.

"Stop!" he yelled out and, to his surprise, all the sorcerers stopped.

"What do you think you are doing, Arthur? You know that Emrys could blow you away with just a glance of his eyes. And we can easily get a spell or two to hit you. You've failed Arthur, Uther's little spy." Griffith shouted back, his voice taunting.

"You will let me and Morgana off this Isle," Arthur struggled to keep his voice steady, "or Emrys shall die."

Silence, then Griffith started laughing, "Oh really? Emrys, why are you letting yourself be captured and used like this? Attack him."

Arthur glanced at Emrys, waiting for his response.

Emrys' voice, as he spoke, showed the exhaustion that lay inside of him, "No."

"No?" Griffith choked out as the rest of the sorcerers spluttered in surprise, "No? You are not going to attack him? You're going to let yourself be killed?"

"Enough of this!" Arthur interrupted, "Will you let me and Morgana go?"

Still spluttering Griffith replied, "No. Definitely not. Go ahead, kill Emrys. I think you will find that he is quite able to protect himself."

"Fine!" Arthur yelled. He dragged Emrys over to the altar next to Morgana and pushed him against it, once again surprised at how little Emrys resisted.

As he passed Morgana she whispered into his ear, "Arthur, no. Don't do this."

"I have to, if we are to get off this Isle." Arthur replied.

Morgana was about to respond when Griffith started walking towards her. She backed off quickly.

Holding Emrys against the altar, Arthur made one more proclamation, "Before you die, Emrys, I think I will take off your hood. Just to see the man that thought he could threaten Morgana."

Emrys shifted and finally started struggling, "No!"

With his hand, Arthur grabbed hold of Emrys' hood and ripped it away from his face. When he saw who was under it he jumped back in surprise and shock, the dagger falling for his hand.

"Merlin?"


	15. The Truth

**Chapter 15 – The Truth**

"Merlin,"

Somewhere in the back of Emrys' mind, he felt a flicker of recognition, but he could not understand where it came from.

Emrys raised his hand to his face, quiet surprised that the hood was not in place. He frowned, confused, and looked into Arthur's eyes. There was such a strong look of hatred and betrayal of Arthur's face, that he took a step back in surprise. What had he done to deserve that look? There was nothing wrong with his face.

_Merlin, _there it was again. That name. First Arthur, and now Magnar. How did that name coexist with him?

_Merlin, listen to me. I cannot break the block on your mind but I can numb it for now. You, Arthur and Morgana are in serious trouble! I am numbing your mind now, it may hurt a little. _Magnar's insisting voice broke the daze that had filled Emrys' mind.

Above his eyes, in the middle of his forehead, a small stinging pain appeared. Emrys flinched once and that was not missed by Arthur. Arthur had stepped away from him and let the dagger fall to the floor, but that did not mean that he wanted to kill him any less.

"Arthur?" he spoke hesitantly. As he spoke that one word, pain shot through his head. Emrys-no Merlin shuddered as the surrounding sorcerers looked aghast that he should be on speaking terms with the Prince of Camelot.

_Well I doubt being on speaking terms is going to last, _he thought sourly to himself. He swayed with exhaustion and pain as he struggled to get the mind block under control.

This was not how it was meant to go. When he had imagined the meetings, just after he had gained the invitation from Magnar, he had presumed that there would be three ways that these meetings could go. Either he would succeed in stopping the sorcerers all together, Uther would be killed but not Arthur, or he would have to fight alone against hundreds of sorcerers. Never did he consider what would happen if himself, Morgana and Arthur were revealed in front of all these sorcerers.

The sorcerers on the Isle did not look like they recognised him, which was just as well considering that he had killed many of their kind before. But as he looked around Merlin could see some sorcerers who looked at him angrily. Among them were Rion and Griffith. A pang of fear went through Merlin, because he did not know if they knew the truth about what he had done to Nimueh.

But Merlin was more afraid for Arthur, because Arthur would always be the main priority. He would have to get Arthur out of here.

"Who are you?" Arthur's voice was laced with hurt and pain. Merlin flinched.

"I am-" he started, trying to get the truth out from behind the mind block. But he could not and the next words came with a hiss of pain, "Mer-Emrys."

Merlin closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose. He gripped the edge of the altar that Arthur threw him upon to stop himself from falling over in pain. The charm that lay on the altar was flickering again; time had almost run out for the meeting.

"Are you Emrys or Merlin?" Arthur said harshly, trying to get the whole truth out.

Merlin winced and clutched his head, his face scrunched up in pain. He struggled to get his next words out. "Both," he winced again and shot a glare at Magnar who just shrugged, "I used the name Emrys so you wouldn't find me."

"And this? Everything you have said is true? That you were born with magic? That you wish for a peaceful way of returning magic to Camelot?" Arthur's voice was filled with disbelief and contempt, and Merlin flinched again. He had to save this situation somehow.

"Yes," Merlin winced again but removed his hand from his head. Something was going on in that mind of his, something between Magnar and him.

The sorcerers were looking around in confusion; wondering how their Emrys knew Arthur and why Arthur kept calling him Merlin. He was not concentrating on them though, too focused on Arthur.

"So when you said that you will use Morgana against Uther…." he did not need to continue.

Merlin froze, "No! I did mean that. I was just trying to protect her. You must trust me!" The sorcerers in the circle started muttering to themselves.

"I do not trust you! I hired you! I trusted you and you lied to me." Arthur spoke loudly, taking a step towards Merlin who did not move.

"It was Uther who hired me as your manservant and it was _your_ life I saved." Merlin spoke quietly. He could not believe that Arthur had forgotten that. The time that Merlin had saved his life.

Around them, the sorcerers had started moving; a sorcerer in the circle called out, from Breri's followers, "Emrys! You are his manservant? What?"

"It's true! I saw him around when I visited Camelot! Serving Arthur." another sorcerer yelled out.

"Serving Arthur?" Tryamon yelled out, her mouth open in shock and staring at Merlin in disgust.

"Like a puppy. Following him around. Bowing in submission!" the other sorcerer replied.

The sorcerers' attention was on Merlin now, and they were not happy.

Merlin glanced around worriedly, seeing the outrage and discontent in all of the sorcerers' faces. They were, understandably, enraged that their Great Leader was nothing more than a manservant. The sorcerers understood that sometimes one needed a cover to hide their magic, but being a servant? That was taking it too far.

"I do not believe it!" Griffith yelled out, in a tone that made everyone on the Isle fall silent, "Our Leader, Emrys, is nothing more than a servant. In fact, he is _Merlin._"

Tearing his gaze away from Arthur, Merlin looked over to Griffith and struggled to form a sentence through the mind block, "How do you know who I am?"

With a piercing glare, Griffith responded, "I spoke with Nimueh's spirit."

Merlin froze, "And I suppose she told you everything."

Griffith nodded, "Yes, _traitor."_

Merlin flinched from Griffith's words and the pain that shot through his head, "Oh."

"_Oh! _That is all you have to say? _Oh? _Give me one reason why I should not kill you now?" Griffith asked, taking a step towards him.

Taking a deep breath, Merlin spoke the first thing that came to his mind, concentrating through the pain in his head, "Because what I did was right?"

"No," breathed Griffith and pointed his finger at Merlin.

* * *

Morgana watched, from her position from behind the altar, everything that was happening, but she did not move.

Every sorcerer, even Griffith, seemed to have forgotten Morgana, who was shooting looks between Merlin and Arthur. She dared not intervene just in case Griffith paid attention to her again.

With a growing sense of fear Morgana watched as Griffith pointed his finger at Merlin, who quickly stepped back until he was only an arm's length away from Arthur. Morgana resisted the urge to jump out and attack Griffith; she was smarter than Arthur and knew that she would only make the situation worse by jumping in. She was not as strong as Griffith in the art of magic and she knew that Merlin would be able to fight him off.

But to her alarm, it seemed as though there was something wrong in Merlin's head. Whether it was just a headache or not, Merlin kept holding his head in pain and swaying. Once, Morgana saw him glance over to Magnar and glared at him, to which Magnar had just shrugged. Something was happening to Merlin.

Now though, Merlin's main problem was Griffith. Morgana knew that Merlin was in no fit state to do powerful magic; he was exhausted for being awake for two days straight.

Morgana could not hear the words that Griffith muttered under his breath but she let out a cry of terror as she saw a bright white beam fly from Griffith's hand, straight towards Merlin. To her surprise, Merlin dropped to the ground quick enough so that the beam passed just over his head.

"You do not deserve to live!" yelled Griffith as he let lose another beam, this time directed to the ground. To avoid it Merlin rolled over on the ground, smearing his cloak with green grass.

"For everyone's sake I must exist!" Merlin mumbled, just loud enough so that she, Arthur and Griffith could hear. Morgana frowned, not understanding what he was saying. And she noticed how Merlin said _exist _and not _live_. Was his life really so horrible so that Merlin felt that he was only an empty shell?

Morgana's thoughts about Merlin's life disappeared as Griffith attacked again. This time a small flame came from Griffith's hand and grew and grew until it became a roaring wall between Merlin and Griffith. Sweat poured from Morgana's forehead as the heat washed over her. She could not imagine what Merlin was going through, being so close to the wall. Through the flickering flames she saw Merlin take a step back.

With a flick of his wrist Griffith sent the flames forwards.

Morgana could not hold back a yell as the roaring flames flew towards Merlin. She screamed at Merlin to run but she knew that he could not, not with Arthur right behind him.

To her surprise, Merlin did not try to run, but instead turned away from the flames and leapt at Arthur. Together they fell on the floor and Morgana could see Merlin muttering something under his breath. Morgana watched as a bright light emitted from his hand, consuming both him and Arthur, until she had to shield her eyes. The flames rolled over the light.

Morgana squeezed her eyes shut until a cry of outrage made her open them again.

The cry had come from Griffith who was staring at the spot where Merlin and Arthur was. Only Merlin and Arthur were no longer there. They had disappeared completely, leaving only a small patch of smoke to show that they were ever there.

Merlin had taken Arthur out of danger, which Morgana was thankful for.

But he had left her behind, alone amongst the sorcerers.

* * *

Merlin let out a gasp of pain as his knees buckled and he fell to the floor.

Only this ground was not the same ground that he had vacated only seconds earlier. The teleportation spell had worked and he was no longer on the Isle.

Like a string on a bow, the mind block snapped back into place. Whether it was because of his distance from Magnar or not, the mind block did not seem as strong as before. But it was still strong enough for Merlin to revert back to Emrys.

Emrys lay on the ground, coughing because of all the smoke that he had inhaled on the Isle. Next to him, he could hear Arthur wheezing. Inside, Emrys felt exhausted; the magic from his teleportation spell using up any last reserves of energy that he had. He knew that it would take a day or two for him to perform even the simplest of spells, let alone try and fight through hundreds of angry sorcerers to get to Morgana.

_Morgana._The name sent a tinge of guilt through him. Emrys quickly pushed the feeling down; knowing that feeling guilty was a weakness. There was nothing that he could do now: she would have to fend for herself.

Slowly Emrys got to his knees, wincing every time the shooting pains went through his forehead. He was no longer trying to keep the mind block at bay, but the pain came from exhaustion.

"Arthur?" he whispered, his voice hoarse.

A groan came from Arthur and Emrys quickly got to his feet. Lying about five feet away was Arthur, who was lying on the floor with his head on the ground. Hurrying over, Emrys knelt down next to him and lent over, trying to see if he was alright.

"Arthur?" he whispered again, and this time Arthur responded with more than just a groan.

"Wha' 'appened?" he murmured.

"We were attacked, I got you out of there." Emrys whispered back, glancing around to check that they were both completely alone.

"Huh?" Arthur mumbled and with another groan he rolled over onto his back, blinking up in into the sun. When his eyes focused on Emrys leaning over him, he let out a cry of shock and scrambled away.

"Arthur?" Emrys' voice was emotionless and cold; the complete opposite as to how Merlin would have spoken. But the name Merlin meant nothing to Emrys now that the mind block was back in place. The name was only a flicker in his mind, like an old memory from when he was very young.

"Get away from me!" Arthur yelled and scrambled to his feet. Arthur's eyes never left his face, as he slowly backed away.

"Arthur, relax," Emrys' held out his hands to calm Arthur down, but in this case they looked a little threatening, "It's me."

"Who's 'me'?" Arthur shot back, his voice filled with anger.

"Emrys." he replied confidently, in no doubt that that was his name.

In his mind, Emrys swayed. He was _so_tired. But he could not let that show in front of Arthur; he could not show that he was weak.

_Yes,_a cunning part of his mind hissed, _you cannot let the weakling think that he is stronger. You are better than him, he is below you._

Almost unconsciously, Emrys followed the voice's instruction.

"What happened to Merlin?" Arthur spat, and he no longer backed away. Instead, Emrys saw that he was reaching into his cloak for something. His sword, no doubt.

"Merlin," the name sent a shot of confusion, but the little cunning voice in his head told him how to respond, "There is no Merlin. There never was."

"Shut up!" screamed Arthur suddenly, making Emrys jump back, "Shut up!"

Emrys let out a laugh, until pain shot through his head and a small prick of regret flashed through his mind. But as soon as it was there, it was gone. He doubled over clutching his head, bracing himself for more pain.

In the moments that he was bent over, in the moments when his stance was weakened Arthur pulled out a rope that Emrys did not know that he had, and grabbed his arms.

Letting out a cry of shock, Emrys felt himself being tugged forwards and he stumbled, his clumsiness was not blocked by Magnar. He looked on with horror as Arthur started wrapping the rope around his wrists, hastily but firmly. Emrys' hands went numb quickly, a sure sign that Arthur had tied up the rope too tightly.

Mortification filled Emrys as he took in his bound hands and the look of accomplishment on Arthur's face. Anger filled his mind and he willed his magic to well up inside of him, threatening the man who thought that he could so easily be forced to submit to his will. He raised his bound hands, ready to break the bonds and strike down Arthur.

_Yes,_the cunning voice spoke once more in his mind, _Yes, strike him down._

"_Líesing sé unbanden earm. Ábradwian sé mann foregán sylfum mé!"_

Nothing happened.

He said the words fine, so why wasn't the spell working? Emrys knew that he was one of the most powerful sorcerers around and that this spell was very basic; so why did nothing happen?

The answer was in his energy. He did not have the strength to perform the spell. He had used it all up on the teleportation spell.

Arthur, who had been expecting a spell to hit him, looked back at Emrys warily. Once he realised that nothing was happening, he relaxed slightly but still gave Emrys suspicious looks.

After a few seconds, Emrys repeated the spell, humiliation filling his voice, _"Líesing sé unbanden earm. Ábradwian sé mann foregán sylfum mé!"_

But Arthur did want to hear any more failed spells. He pulled out his sword with his right hand and with his left he pushed Emrys so that the sword's point lay on his back. Emrys froze.

"If you move," Arthur warned, his voice low, "I will run you through without a thought."

Emrys did not speak; his throat suddenly dry. Without his magic, he was next to useless. He wouldn't be able to run away from Arthur: he could easily catch up and he could not refuse to move due to a small sharp object in his back.

"Where are we?" Arthur asked and Emrys finally paid attention to his surrounds.

They were on a rocky beach, the water calm and still whilst the night sky was like a blanket over them. Straining his eyes in the dark, Emrys could make out the side of a large hill. Cut into the hill was a passage, a passage into a maze.

Emrys had not paid attention to where he was teleporting Arthur and himself, only thinking to get out of the Isle. But he wondered if his magic had willed him and Arthur here of all places.

Anhora's beach.

Well, it wasn't specifically Anhora's Beach; the locals probably had their own name for it, but to Emrys it held a small importance. He wasn't sure what, because every time he tried to remember it sent shooting pains through his head. He soon gave up trying to remember.

But he couldn't leave Arthur without an answer so he replied with the little knowledge that he had, "Anhora's Beach."

Emrys felt the sword on his back be lowered slightly as Arthur looked once more at the surrounds. For a moment Emrys debated about running but he knew that it would be useless. Arthur would catch up to him in seconds.

"Did you," behind him, Arthur's voice was emotionless, "Take us here intentionally? Here of all places?"

Emrys frowned, not understanding the importance of the beach to Arthur.

Nevertheless, he answered truthfully, "Unintentionally."

Silence, then Arthur spoke again, "And the poison? Was that intentionally? Or was it merely a ploy to gain my trust?"

_What is he talking about?_Emrys thought. For a moment he couldn't get rid of a picture of Arthur on this beach, only it was daylight. And he was falling unconscious, letting go of a goblet as he did so.

But the picture was gone, as well as the flash of pain that went with it.

"Poison?" he asked, cursing himself for sounding weak.

The sword pressed harder and it took all of Emrys' willpower not to gasp.

"You don't remember?" Arthur asked, his voice laced with pain, "Are you-" he paused, "You're not Merlin."

The cunning little voice spoke once more in his mind, telling him how to respond, "Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't. But I am all Emrys now."

Arthur stayed silent for a moment and Emrys resisted the urge to turn around and see his expression.

Then he spoke and his voice was cold, "Move."

The sword pressed deeper into Emrys' back, breaking his skin and drawing blood. This time he could not keep a gasp of pain escape his lips. He stumbled forwards and the sword followed.

This was how they walked: Emrys stumbling forwards, repeating useless spells under his breath whilst his useless hands were bound in front of him. Behind him Arthur followed close behind. With one hand he gripped the sword that was pointed at Emrys' back and the other hand was on Emrys' shoulder, which stopped him from running.

They soon reached the exit, or this time the entrance, to the maze. Emrys paused and tried to turn around to look at Arthur, but the sword pressed in and he moved again.

Memories flashed through his mind as he wandered through the maze, each one bringing a new flash of pain into his mind. But the memories that Emrys did see were disjointed and fuzzy.

The mind block was working well.


	16. Planning Once Again

**Chapter 16 – Planning Once Again**

"Coward," Griffith yelled at the spot that Merlin where had been just seconds before, "COWARD!"

None of the sorcerers in the circle moved, all too afraid of Griffith's rage. Some of them agreed with Griffith, but most others did not know what to think. Morgana knew that Merlin's reputation would soon be destroyed.

Griffith soon realized that he could use this to his advantage. He lowered his voice somewhat and addressed all of the sorcerers on the Isle, "You see this? This just proves what I have always suspected. Emrys, our Great leader is nothing more than a pathetic coward. He has run away from us all, leaving us to deal with the upcoming war against Camelot. He has betrayed us, running away, protecting and _serving _the son of our kind's killer. He is a traitor for that! But he is a traitor for more."

He paused and Morgana looked around at the sorcerers to see their reaction. Most of them just looked confused, so Griffith continued, "Do you remember our old High Priestess, Nimueh? Do you remember her?" he did not wait for a response, "We all know the story; she was performing her duties as High Priest, sorting out the balance between life and death when she was mysteriously murdered. Nobody knew who did this, until now.

"But I worked it out," he raised his voice, throwing his arms, "I spoke with Nimueh's spirit and she told me everything. She told me that she was performing her duty as High Priestess, when this boy named Merlin came running to her, asking for a cure for his master, the Prince of Camelot. She agreed to help him, in return for a life. She brought Arthur back to life and took the boy's mother. But Merlin didn't like that, and in his anger killed her right _there!" _Griffith pointed to the burnt patch of grass on the floor.

"Can you see the connection?" Griffith yelled out, "Can you see the connection between Merlin and Emrys? Can you see that Emrys' real name is-"

But Griffith could not finish. A weird feeling came over him and his throat closed up, stopping any more words from coming out. His hands gripped his throat and he doubled over as he tried to choke out the words. The sorcerers, Morgana included, looked at each other, unsure how to react and shuffled away from Griffith.

"Can you see that Emrys is-" Griffith tried again, but like last time his throat closed up.

In the circle of sorcerers, Magnar stepped out and spoke clearly to the sorcerers; his voice heavy with sarcasm, "What? Can't say _Merlin? _Can't say one teeny-weeny word?"

Still holding his throat, Griffith looked up at Magnar who strode towards him, "You! You did this to me!"

"Ah, no," Magnar stopped walking forwards and regarded Griffith with disdain, "I am responsible for many things, but your incapability to say Emrys' name is not one of them."

Spluttering, Griffith took a step forwards to Magnar, his arm raised threateningly, "If you didn't, then who did? Answer me!"

Magnar, not afraid at all by Griffith's threat, pointed at the altar where Merlin's charm still laid, "That thing."

Whirling around, Griffith stared at the charm skeptically, "Emrys' invitation?"

"Yep," Magnar walked around Griffith and laid a hand on the altar, not quite touching the charm, "This little thing. You see, Griffith," he turned around, "The oath that you took at the start of the meetings, the one where you promised never to reveal the connection between Emrys and-well, the _other _Emrys. That still holds, even though Emrys is no longer…._present._"

It was obvious to all the sorcerers in the circle that the oath bound Magnar too, but they did not comment on it. Griffith straightened haughtily and pointed to the charm, "But the meeting has ended."

Magnar frowned at Griffith's stupidity, "Ah no. Emrys is the only one with the authority to end the meeting. It will still go on, forever if he so willed it. But thankfully, because he has left, we can leave the Isle as well. Which is just as well, or we could be stuck here forever."

Griffith frowned too, and seemed to contemplate something. Morgana shuddered to think what it was, "Very well," Griffith spoke, trying to regain some dignity, "If the meeting should continue then we still have some points to address," he looked over to Morgana, "The Lady Morgana, for instance."

Every eye on the Isle turned to Morgana, who suppressed her fear and drew herself up to her full height. Silence filled the Isle, until Griffith took a step towards her.

"Griffith, Griffith, Griffith," Magnar suddenly spoke, his voice slightly higher than usual. He quickly ran around between Morgana and Griffith, facing the man, "It would not be a good idea to do this so _rashly. _Firstly, because of Emrys' absence we will need to elect a new _temporary_ leader."

Though he looked slightly annoyed that he had been interrupted, Griffith replied, "Of course. I seem to recall how we normally elect a leader. The next in rank I believe. Which is...me."

Magnar did not say anything for a moment and he threw a hopeless look at Morgana before backing away, his hands raised in surrender.

Griffith nodded in approval and continued walking towards the King's Ward. Morgana, seeing one of her last hopes fail, backed away slightly until the sorcerers behind her pushed her forwards again.

"Wait, Griffith!" Rion called out, surprising everyone in the vicinity, "I suggest you don't do that."

Griffith turned around, annoyed again that he kept getting interrupted. But he put on a gracious smile for Rion, "Yes, Rion?"

Rion, the old powerful crone, stepped forwards; away from all of her followers. "You can drop that smile, Griffith, I know you are faking it," Griffith's smile disappeared quickly, turning into an annoyed frown, "Remember, what the traitor Emrys said; we can use Morgana against Uther. Uther Pendragon cares a lot for his Ward; she is almost like a daughter to him. Arthur has escaped our grasp and he will not easily come back, not with Emrys protecting him. But Morgana is here, and she is alone."

Griffith turned around, back to staring at Morgana. He was silent for a few seconds but when he spoke his voice was low, "We need a vote."

"Yes," Rion agreed, "We need a vote!"

Clearing his throat, and sending Morgana a murderous glare that made her step back once again, Griffith spoke to all the sorcerers, "So now that Emrys has left us, we need to vote on the next course of action. The options are as follows. You can vote for Breri, who wishes to make a peaceful way to return magic to Camelot; without killing Uther or anyone and placing Arthur on the throne. Then there are the views of Rion and Tryamon: no bloodshed, but to use Morgana and make Uther choose between his crown and her. Or mine, which is to kill everyone in Camelot to show Uther what pain really is."

Griffith walked over to Magnar, and lowered his voice so that only he could hear, "As much as I don't trust you, you have a job to do. Collect everyone's votes."

Magnar nodded and closed his eyes, letting his mind go.

With his mind he forged through the hundreds of sorcerers, breaking into their minds and collecting their votes. As he did this, he told Morgana everything that was happening.

_As I predicted, all of Griffith's followers have gone to his views, though there are a few that that followed Rion. Interesting. Fallow has surprised me again, and I so thought he would join Rion's side. Ahh, he needs revenge though. Hmm, Breri's side isn't looking so good. Only twenty five following him. Things aren't looking good for you, Morgana._

Morgana closed her eyes and tried to block out Magnar, she did not want to hear what her fate was going to be. Magnar, recognizing the refusal to listen, withdrew.

A few minutes later and Magnar opened his eyes again. Everyone waited in anticipation for the results. Morgana's heart speed up and she noticed that she was shaking. She tried to stop, but fear had taken over her mind.

Shooting an apologetic look at Morgana, Magnar straightened up and gave the final verdict.

"Well it looks like we will be following Rion's and Tryamon's views."

Morgana's stomach sunk and she turned away as all of the sorcerers on the Isle started screaming in glee. Even those that had voted for Griffith still yelled, glad that they would at least be able to cause Uther a little bit of pain.

To say that Griffith was annoyed by the results would have been an understatement, "What about revenge?"

Rion answered his question, "As much as it pains me to admit it, Morgan le Fay, _Morgana, _was correct. We could not afford to start a circle of revenge that never stops. Better to aim for no bloodshed."

"It's not the end of the world Griffith," Tryamon slunk forwards and stood next to Griffith, running a hand over his arm, "What would you if Breri's views had won?"

Those standing in the centre of the circle, those within ear shot, turned towards Breri who automatically took a step back, but to Breri's relief they did not peruse the matter. Griffith breathed deeply through his nose and turned to face Morgana. The others in the Isle followed suit.

"So, what it is the plan?" Griffith asked everyone in general. Nobody spoke so Morgana took the opportunity to speak up.

"I suggest that you let me go at once!" Griffith snorted at Morgana's declaration, "I am one of you, not Uther's Ward."

"Oh, really," Griffith drawled, "Grab her."

The last words were directed at the surrounding sorcerers. There was a flurry of movement and Morgana soon found herself being held in the tight grip of the sorcerers nearest to her. She struggled slightly, but they only held on tighter. She contented herself with giving Griffith a glare, which he ignored.

"The plan," Rion spoke as if nothing had happened, "The plan is that we take Morgana here and go to Camelot. A couple of us will go to the King with Morgana as Prisoner and give him a choice; his throne or Morgana. And then-"

"What about those who do not wish to go to Camelot?" Breri had finally spoken up, not moving from his position in the circle.

Griffith turned around to face him, "If they do not wish to come then they may not. Remember though, they will be branded as cowards."

"Better a coward than a bloodthirsty beast," Breri muttered darkly. He turned away from Griffith, afraid that if he looked too look into those dark eyes he would start shaking again, "Those who do not wish to go to Camelot, come with me now." He walked into the centre of the Isle and looked expectedly at the sorcerers.

Slowly, twenty or so sorcerers broke out from the crowds and joined Breri. They looked around nervously but did not run back. Breri, seeming happy with the numbers, lead them off to the boats.

The other sorcerers looked at them in disgust as they walked off the Isle, but none made any move to attack or stop them in any way. Morgana watched as one of her last hopes turned their back on her.

Clearing her throat, and glaring at the spot that Breri had just left Rion continued, "Some of us will need to try and track down Emrys and Arthur, to try and stop them going to Camelot. With Morgana, if Uther does not accept-"

Morgana shut her eyes and she heard her future being planned out.


	17. Magnar, Uther and Tyra

**Chapter 17 - Magnar, Uther and Tyra**

Uther bit his lip as he stared unblinkingly at the door of the council chamber. Biting his lips was a very un-Kinglike thing to do, but worry had taken away most of his stature.

Morgana was missing.

He did not know the exact time when she had mysteriously disappeared but he knew that she was definitely in Camelot before Arthur had gone off to the meetings. In fact that was around the last time that he had spoken to her, but he couldn't remember that conversation well; he was too focused on seeing his son going to the sorcerer's meeting to spy and the slight chance that there could be a war.

For a moment Uther wondered if Morgana had heard about the sorcerer's meeting. He quickly pushed away the thought. There was no way that Morgana could have even heard about the meeting because the only ones who knew about it were Arthur, Gaius and himself. Yet Uther could not rid himself of the feeling that Morgana was involved with the sorcerers somehow, and how her disappearance and the sorcerer meeting being at the same time was nothing more than a coincidence.

But Uther could not send search parties out to the Isle of the Blessed; it would look too suspicious. So he had to content himself with sending to search parties out to other places in the Kingdom and pray with all his heart that Morgana was not at the Isle.

Uther had never been the praying type, he had never prayed since Igraine died. But now praying had become a regular occurrence; praying that Morgana was alive, praying that Arthur was alive and praying that the Kingdom would not go to war.

Uther blinked as he heard a bang on the door. He straightened himself on his throne and brushed his clothes down, trying to seem more kingly. Pushing away all thought of Morgana he sat up and concentrated. With a firm voice he spoke, "Enter."

With a loud crash the door opened and a small peasant woman stepped in. Once again Uther was amazed and slightly offended at how much this commoner acted like she was from noble class or even royalty. Tyler stepped into the council chambers with a large smile on her face and approached Uther, sinking into a curtsy when she was a respectable distance away from him.

_At least she understands that I am above her, _Uther thought drily, but he could not miss the slightly mocking way that she curtsied.

"You summoned me, my lord," Tyler spoke and Uther could not miss again the emphasis on '_me' _and the resentful way that she spoke '_my lord'. _

"Yes, I have come to give you your reward for giving Camelot information on sorcerers." as Uther said those words he noted the way that Tyler smiled. It was not the usual smile of peasants that gained a nice reward for doing their duty for Camelot, but more of one who had successfully manipulated someone. But Uther could not see how Tyler could have manipulated him; everything that she had spoken of was the truth.

"Oh my lord," Tyler responded, flattered, "I seek no reward."

In his mind, Uther smiled at the cleverness of the girl. It was obvious that she wanted him to insist on the reward, just to see him begging for her to take something. _Two can play that game, _he thought.

Keeping his face blank he replied, "If you seek no reward than you shall not get one. Camelot needs the reward anyway to supply my army with food."

Tyler spluttered and Uther watched as she tried to regain her position, "I-my lord….I-did, reward…"

Uther was tempted to let her splutter for a few seconds long but she was wasting his time and he needed to devote his time to finding Morgana. From his belt he drew out a small bag of coins and tossed it to her. He was slightly surprised when she caught it deftly and pocketed it quickly.

Tyler curtsied again and this time dipped her head slightly. Obviously, she was now more willing to show submission as she had a small amount of money, "My lord," she began cautiously and Uther forced himself to listen, "I was wondering, if Camelot was to win this war against sorcerers, if I might be recognised? I have taken a great risk by stealing from the sorcerer the Invitation Charm that got your son into the meeting. Right now I fear retribution. It would-"

But whatever Tyler was about to say was cut off when a sudden gust of wind made her fall over. The candles that were lit in the room and the morning sun disappeared behind a cloud.

In the middle of the room a small fleck of darkness appeared. Slowly it became bigger till it was almost human-sized. Wind rushed into the dark void and it suddenly reminded Uther of the time that Mary Collins had disappeared. Tyler's face was a mask of fear and Uther had opened his mouth to call some guards when a low voice emitted from the darkness.

"You should fear retribution, Tyra."

Frowning, Uther looked away from the darkness to Tyler and saw the look of recognition in her eyes. So her real name was Tyra; Uther's suspicions about the girl grew.

"Magnar," the girl breathed and from her position on the floor backed away slowly, her breathing coming in short gasps. Uther's frown deepened.

Suddenly a man stepped from the darkness, almost as if he had been standing behind it the whole time. Uther jumped and yelled, "Sorcery! Guards!"

"They will not come," the sorcerer's deep voice rang in the hall. Uther assumed this to be Magnar. Behind Magnar, the darkness disappeared almost as quickly as it had come.

"Magnar, please. I did not mean- please Magnar forgive me," Tyra's pitiful voice sounded from the floor as she scrambled and knelt at Magnar's feet.

With disgust written all over his face, Magnar stepped away from Tyra, "Although I long to watch you die I must abide by Emrys' wishes for you."

Looking up again, Tyra replied hesitantly, "Emrys' wishes?"

"Yes," Magnar raised his hand and pointed it at Tyra, who flinched. A string of words came from Magnar that Uther did not recognise. Nothing happened for a moment and cautiously Tyra opened her eyes.

All of a sudden Tyra cried out in fear a pain and a great cloud of darkness, not unlike the one that Magnar used to arrive here, consumed her. When the darkness cleared Tyra was gone, the only sign that she ever was there was a small bag; the very bag that held the reward that Uther had given her.

Magnar walked over to the bag and picked it up as Uther stared in shock. With his hand he threw it to Uther who did not catch it. The bag fell to the floor at his feet.

When Uther regained his voice he choked out one word, "Sorcery."

Rolling his eyes, Magnar replied, "Well observed."

"Guards!" Uther yelled again, cursing himself for leaving his sword out of reach. It lay on a table on the opposite side of the hall, unreachable and useless. Uther waited for the guards to come in, but nobody opened up the doors. It was like there was nobody there, but Uther knew quiet different; he had seen the guards there only moments before.

"I told you, they will not come," Magnar spoke quietly.

Uther struggled to get out of the throne and onto his feet, "Where did you take her?"

Magnar's shoulders went up and down; which Uther later processed that as a shrug, "To be punished."

"Why?" Uther could not resist the almost child-ish question to come out of his mouth.

"Because she preformed treason to our leader, Emrys. She betrayed her own kind by revealing the whereabouts and when the sorcerer meeting was to start. She also delivered an invitation into non-magical hands; Arthur Pendragon's hands which is another grave betrayal."

Shaking his head, Uther came to a frightening conclusion, "She was a sorceress!"

Magnar started talking as if he was talking to a small child, "Yes. She was a sorceress."

But Uther did not have the time to regain his pride, "Arthur. I have sent him into a trap."

Uther started pacing, ignoring the amused expression on Magnar's face, "You have not sent him into a trap Uther. He is in good hands. Young hands, but good."

"What?" Uther froze and stared at Magnar, looking at him properly. Magnar was wearing a long black cloak and wore clean but simple clothes. Uther had never seen him before and wondered what he position was in with all these sorcerers at the meeting. He spoke of being below Emrys and serving the leader of the sorcerers.

"Arthur may have gotten into a little fight and _accidently _revealed who he was. Really disappointing for the Crowned Prince of Camelot to succumb to his anger."

"No," Uther whispered, his heart clenching. Not caring if he seemed weak begged for more information.

"Well, Arthur had to protect Morgana when her hood was thrown off," Magnar studied his fingernails as he spoke, seemingly not caring about Uther.

Uther's mouth fell open and he blinked once. His mind raced, his worst fears were confirmed, "What?" He spluttered his eyes wide with fear and confusion.

Magnar sighed, amusement lacing his voice, "I said, Arthur had to protect-"

"I know what you said!" Uther interrupted, angrily, "Just tell me the truth! Where is Morgana? What happened to Arthur?"

"I am telling the truth!" Magnar replied, offended, "Morgana went to the meeting with plans to try and persuade them to try and aim for peace. At least, that was what I think she was doing. She didn't tell me specifically what she had in mind. But whatever here plans were, I doubt that they included Arthur being attacked by a sorcerer and taken off the Isle."

Uther was silent, too shocked to reply. Magnar tapped his foot impatiently, only stopping when Uther had gathered his thoughts together enough to reply, "Start from the start. Tell me everything that happened. Where is Arthur? Is he safe? Where is Morgana?"

Raising his eyebrows, Magnar responded, "And you will listen to me? A sorcerer?"

"No, probably not," Uther replied, taking a step forwards.

Raising his hands, Magnar took a step back, looking like he was backing away. But Uther was not an idiot; he saw that Magnar was not afraid of him.

"To put it simply," Magnar began, speaking slowly but with dark humour in his voice, "Arthur went to the meeting. Morgana went to the meeting. Morgana drew too much attention to herself when she fought for peace. Griffith, a sorcerer, took off her hood. Arthur jumped in and tried to fight Griffith. He lost, and his hood fell off. Emrys moved in. His hood fell off. He took Arthur away from the Isle, leaving Morgana behind. Is that simple enough?"

To Magnar's amusement, Uther collapsed back onto the throne. Like a fish, Uther opened and closed his mouth, his eyes wide and staring at Magnar. Uther swallowed, his chest heaving, "Emrys?" He asked, struggling to keep the confusion and pain out of his voice. He could not afford to sound weak for this _sorcerer. _

"Emrys has kept his identity a secret for a long time now, ever since the first meeting. He does not wish for the connection between himself and his life here in Camelot to be known. I have taken an oath, alongside ever other sorcerer in the meeting, to never reveal the connection between Emrys and his real life," Magnar's face was expressionless as he spoke, but Uther could detect a small flicker of his eyes. Years of being in court made Uther understand what that small flicker meant; Magnar was not entirely happy with his leader, Emrys.

"Where is this Emrys?" Uther asked. He worded his words carefully, making it seem like he was only interested in the sorcerer. But he realised that wherever Emrys was, Arthur would be too.

"Travelling to Camelot at all speed," Magnar replied, "Whether Emrys is Arthur's prisoner or not is, debatable. Emrys had exhausted most of his magic by now, so I think he might be."

"Emrys?" Uther frowned, "I ordered Arthur to kill Emrys! Why hasn't he done so?"

Unexpectedly Magnar laughed, throwing his head back, "Oh I believe that is because of that fact that Arthur knows who Emrys is. Who Emrys really is. Of course, he may find his 'friend' a little...let's just say...different?" Uther frown deepened, not understanding the joke but Magnar did not explain.

Magnar stopped laughing and turned serious, "Anyway Uther. My time is running up. The reason I came here is to one, get Tyra. But the other is to tell you to prepare your army for an attack. The sorcerers will come to Camelot and demand a meeting. You must accept, or they will...ahem..._force _you to have this meeting. There they will give you a choice: you give up your crown and get the Lady Morgana back safe and sound, or you refuse to give them the crown and they will take away Morgana."

Uther opened his mouth to interrupt but Magnar had not finished, "They voted on killing the Lady Morgana, but I doubt that they will do that. Griffith only lost by a bit, so I think that he will order them to attack Camelot anyway. Even those sorcerers who do not want revenge will attack, too caught up in the blood thirst. This is why Emrys lost his leadership, some of the sorcerers want you dead Uther," Magnar paused, "And they will stop at nothing to get what they want."

Magnar turned, as if to leave but Uther called out, "How do you know all of this? Why are you telling me this? How can I trust you?"

Smiling that sarcastic smile that Uther hated so much, Magnar turned around again, "Can you trust me? Good question. Your choice. But if you don't and you don't do anything about what I said, you're going to have a good hundred sorcerers on your doorstep soon. And just for the record, I am telling you this because Emrys told me to do this. Well, he didn't tell me exactly that this is what he wanted me to do, but he is a little busy at the moment so I am doing what he wants, what he would do.

"And finally, how do I know all of this? I have a thousand eyes and ears Uther Pendragon, be sure to remember that."

Uther blinked, and Magnar was gone in a flash of darkness. The guards came running in, a little too late.

But Uther ignored them, his mind going over the hardest decision of his life.


	18. The Monster that I am

**Chapter 18 – The Monster that I am**

Arthur turned away from Merlin, refusing to look into those eyes.

They had arrived at the closest inn and Arthur then ordered a bed for the night. Although he wanted to continue walking non-stop until he got to Camelot, sheer exhaustion forced him to seek out shelter. The inn at which they were staying at was only a short distance from Anhora's beach in a small village town. Arthur knew from his patrols with the Knights that they were at Redcrest Village, a small farming town near the sea.

Redcrest Village was small, but they had enough people travelling through it so their inn was stable and had a good income. Arthur knew why so many people visited Redcrest, the labyrinth nearby was one of the wonders of Camelot. Many people had entered the maze for enjoyment. But Arthur could still remember the weight of all those lives in Camelot weighing on his shoulders, and the horror of not knowing whether Anhora had laid any traps for him. For him it had not been a pleasant journey.

And neither was this one. Though the inn was reasonable and the food good, Arthur still could not get rid out the gnawing feeling in his stomach. Morgana was in terrible danger, alone among those bloodthirsty beasts. Arthur wondered whether she was still alive or not.

Then there was the war that was coming up. Arthur knew that he would have to warn his father about the sorcerers, just as he was meant to do all along. But he also knew that the Isle of the Blessed was much closer to Camelot than where he was now. It would take time, though, to get an army of sorcerers to Camelot even with Magic assisting them. The road which they would take would be hard as well; the Mountains and the Valley would waste a lot of their time. Arthur's journey to Camelot, on the other hand, would be marginally easier; the path was straight and flat even though it took him through a few forests.

And when he reached Camelot, if he reached Camelot in time, he would go up to his father and warn him about the sorcerers, fulfilling his last order.

Arthur's breath hitched as he realised that he had not completed all of his orders, his last was to kill Emrys.

He fingered the sword that he had strapped to the side of his body, debating whether to pull it from the sheath or not. He lifted it slightly, his finger caressing over the sharp blade, imagining putting it through Merlin's body. For some reason, he could not do it.

But he had to. This person, whoever he was, was no longer Merlin. There was something _evil _and wrong in Merlin, and it should be his job to remove that. But he couldn't, because if the real Merlin was in there somewhere then he would kill one of his closest friends and he could never forgive himself if that happened.

No, better to just take Merlin to Camelot and see his father pass judgement on him. He knew that Merlin would be executed, but nothing that Arthur could say would change that. Merlin was evil, everything that he had ever been taught about sorcerers was correct.

Arthur moved to the bed his room in the Inn. The room in which he was staying in was small, but comfortable. There was one bed, pushed up against the wall furthest from the door. A window sat just above the bed, but Arthur knew that it would be impossible to open it. A chair and a desk sat on the opposite wall to the bed and a mirror hung above the desk. He avoided Merlin's eyes again, concentrating on sitting down on the bed. He put his hands in his head, feeling Merlin's eyes upon him from where he sat, tied to the bedpost by his hands with the rope.

Arthur covered his eyes and lent over, considering what he could do. A part of him was itching to look up into those eyes and see if Merlin was still there.

Slowly, he uncovered his face and got up out of the bed. Making his way across to the chair he braced himself. He could feel Merlin's eyes following him but he did not turn around. Carefully he sat onto the chair and directed his eyes straight at Merlin.

What was once a smiley, gangly manservant, full of innocence and naivety was now a hard, cruel man. His clothes seemed more loosing fitting, a clear factor that Merlin had lost weight. His bones were more defined and his face thinner. His hair was mattered and dirty. The goofy smile that Arthur loved was gone from his mouth, replaced with a long thin line. When Arthur saw Merlin smile, it was not the cheery grin that he was used to; it was cold, mocking and evil.

The once blue eyes had changed into fiery black voids. Expect for a thin line around the outside, the white of his eyes was gone so almost his entire eye was pitch black. But looking closer Arthur could see that his pupils were a maroon colour, almost dark red. They were sunken and cold. Merlin did not blink and Arthur could not draw his gaze away.

Slowly, Arthur became aware of footsteps outside his door. He shook his head and realised how someone may react if they saw Merlin like this. They had been lucky because the Inn had been empty when they arrived so the only person that had seen Merlin was the Innkeeper, but Arthur was worried that their luck may turn. Springing into action he grabbed a blanket that had been folded on the desk and threw it over Merlin.

A cry of annoyance came from Merlin but Arthur ignored it, concentrating on the door. The footsteps stopped outside his door and Arthur held his breath, willing whoever was outside to move on. Thankfully, after a moment, the footsteps receded.

Carefully, Arthur got out of the chair and made his way over to Merlin. He drew out his sword and with the tip brushed the blanket off him. Merlin's annoyed face appeared, but it soon changed to amusement.

"Can't look at me Arthur?" he smiled, "Coward."

Arthur turned away, his body showing disgust. But in his head, he was afraid of the man below him. He was afraid of Merlin.

If he had been told a week ago that he would be afraid of his manservant he would have just laughed. But there was nothing humorous about the situation now. He had a monster in his room; someone that thought he could use Morgana to save his own skin, someone who thought that the world should bow to him.

Unwillingly, memories appeared in Arthur's mind; memories showing all the times that he and Merlin had spent together. Merlin in the stocks. Merlin cleaning his armour. Merlin laughing with him about some joke.

There had been no sign of what he would become one day, no sign at all that he was really a powerful sorcerer that would turn into this..._monster. _

Arthur knew that he should get some sleep because he would have a long day of hard riding in the morning, but he could not. With Merlin in the room, he would be too jumpy. Arthur knew, for some reason Merlin's magic was not working but he did not know how long it would last.

Arthur blinked, and struggled to opened eyes again. He knew that he would have to some sleep now, because if he didn't he would not be suited to _guard _Merlin the next day. Slowly, Arthur walked to the bed and climbed onto it; his eyes never leaving Merlin. Merlin's eyes never left him either.

Trying to make himself comfortable in the bed, Arthur made sure that his sword never left his grip. If Merlin's magic didn't return during the night, then Arthur was confident that he would not escape easily. Merlin's hands were bound behind his back at to the bedpost with a length of rope. Another piece of rope wrapped around his torso and the bedpost as an extra precaution. This forced Merlin into a cross-legged sitting position and Arthur knew that if Merlin wished to sleep, that was how he would have to relax.

Arthur closed his eyes, but opened them a few seconds later; checking to see if Merlin was still there. He was, staring at him with anger. Arthur shut his eyes slowly again.

Only to open them a minute later to see if Merlin moved.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Emrys rubbed his wrists, trying to take them bindings off his hands. He snuck a quick glance over to Arthur and then shifted, trying to make himself more comfortable.

No matter how much he rubbed, pulled and strained his arms, it was impossible to get the bindings off. A failed muttered spell confirmed that his magic was still out of it. Cursing under his breath, Emrys twisted around to look at Arthur on the bed.

It had amused him to see that Arthur had fallen asleep, exhaustion taking over his fear of him. He studied the sword at Arthur's side and debated how hard it would to be to grab it. Trying not to wake Arthur, he shuffled so that the rope around the bedpost moved as he got closer to the bed. He lent back onto the hard wood and lifted one of his legs onto the bed. He kicked carefully, trying to make the sword fall off the bed.

Arthur groaned as Emrys kicked him in the side. He froze, slowly bringing his leg back to his body. Thankfully, Arthur did not wake but merely mumbled under his breath and turned over; his hand unconsciously rubbing the area that he had kicked.

A vengeful, savage part of him leapt with glee as he watched Arthur groan with pain. _That's right, _the cunning voice spoke in his mind, _Arthur deserves this pain. He tied you up like a common prisoner! But you are Emrys, and you will fight back. You must, for the sake of your dignity. Disturb his sleep, make him tired._

Emrys lifted his leg up again and readied himself to kick Arthur again.

_No, _he froze; his leg hanging in the air. _Stop! _Pain shot through Emrys' head.

Frowning, he pulled his leg back to his body, trying to understand who had spoken.

"Hello?" he spoke aloud, his voice unsure and wary.

Nobody replied and Emrys shook his head. Looking back at Arthur, Emrys remembered what he was doing before and prepared himself to give Arthur another kick.

_No, don't hurt him. _Emrys realised what he had missed before. The voice didn't belong to anyone else. It was his voice.

_Why? _the cunning voice spoke in his mind and Emrys shook his head in confusion.

_He doesn't know the whole truth. He is doing what he believes is right, _another voice spoke in Emrys' head. It sounded like the old him, before the mind block was placed on him.

_That doesn't justify his actions against you, _the cunning voice said and Emrys listened, _He has treated you like dirt, like a dog. You must kill him; you must destroy him and make him pay._

_No, _the other voice replied faintly, _you're wrong._

_You're wrong? _the cunning voice laughed. Emrys shook his head again and winced, drawing his legs up to his body. _You are me and I am you. We are the same person. That is why you should listen to me. You must deal revenge against the Prince._

Emrys listened to what the voice said and raised his leg again, ready to give Arthur the hardest kick yet.

_No, _the other voice screamed in his mind, but for some reason it seemed fainter, _You must not do that!_

Emrys froze again, and started shaking, pain shooting through his head at regular intervals. A part of him, a very large part of him wanted to give Arthur the kick that he deserved. But a smaller part did not want him to, and Emrys found that he did not know which side to listen to.

_To me, _the cunning voice insisted.

_No, _the other voice spoke up, _to me!_

Squeezing his eyes shut, Emrys listened to one side.

Another kick woke Arthur up, growling. Arthur grabbed his sword and shot out of the bed. He gripped his side painfully and looked at Emrys with accusing eyes, but Emrys did not meet them. Snarling, Arthur grabbed the rope that kept Emrys to the bedpost and untied it. With the rope he dragged Emrys over to the table and tied him up to one of the legs instead, well out of reach from the bed.

_Snort at him, _the cunning voice told him, _show that you have no respect for him._

Emrys followed the orders, first snorting and then turning away from Arthur. But Arthur ignored this and just climbed into bed again, the sword in his hand. A few minutes later Arthur was asleep.

With his hands Emrys tried to see if his bonds were any less tight than before. But Arthur had tied them too well.

_Curse him, _the cunning voice spoke again.

Emrys listened, and the cunning voice cheered whilst the other voice that sounded like Merlin growled in defeat.

The cunning voice was winning the war over Emrys' mind.

* * *

Arthur cursed the stable keeper under his breath as he massaged his pounding forehead.

The stable keeper was adamant that the horse that Arthur had shown interest in was selling for five gold pieces, not the two that Arthur had offered to pay. Arthur was normally quiet good at haggling prices but this small stubborn man that owned the stables next to the inn did not budge on his offer.

"Three gold pieces or no deal." Arthur challenged, holding out the small gold pieces that he had hidden in his boot as an extra precaution.

The portly, stubborn stable keeper stared at the gold pieces that Arthur held out and then looked behind him at the bay horse that he was leading. He then looked back at Arthur and made as if to take the pieces of gold.

But at the last minutes he snatched his hand back, "No deal then, have fun walking," he gave a Arthur's smile that showed all of his rotten teeth. He turned away and started to lead the horse back to the stables.

Arthur cursed once more under his breath. He needed a horse and the stable next to the inn was the only stable with suitable horses in it. With a pang, Arthur thought of his horse, Tristian, and wondered if he was still alive. Tristian had been his horse for as long as he could remember and he felt saddened by the loss.

"Wait!" he called out and the stable keeper stopped in his path. Swinging around, he gave Arthur another grin that made Arthur wish that he was wearing the Pendragon Coat of Arms so he could order the man around.

"You change your mind?" the stable keeper approached Arthur again with the bay horse.

Throwing an angry glare at the man Arthur pulled out the extra two coins that he needed, "Here." He thrust the coins out.

The stable keeper pounced on them, his eyes gleaming but Arthur held him back. With his free hand he motioned to the horse, "The horse."

With a sigh, the stable keeper pulled the bay horse forwards. The horse followed obediently as the stable keeper gave his reigns to Arthur. Only now did Arthur allow the gold coins to leave his possession.

The stable keeper hurried away with the coins and Arthur turned around to the direction where the inn was. He had left Merlin inside, asleep and bound. It was a small risk, but Arthur knew that it was unavoidable.

Quickly, Arthur made his way back to the inn with the bay horse following close behind. The winter morning air was cold as Arthur drew his cloak closer to his body. Very few people were out in the streets, most having stayed in their homes to escape the chilling winds. For that Arthur was thankful for, less people to witness Merlin coming out of the inn.

Arthur tied the horse to a pole outside the inn and walked inside, nodding to the inn keeper as he passed him. He looked at him suspiciously and Arthur realised that he had not forgotten that Arthur had walked in with Merlin tied up the night before.

He would have to reassure the man later, to make sure that rumours about him and Merlin did not spread. If the sorcerers were to find out that Arthur was at Redcrest Village, then any hope that Uther could be warned about the attack would disappear.

Arthur walked up the steps in the inn and down the corridor to his room. Cautiously, he pushed on the door, wondering whether he had misjudged the situation and Merlin was free and going to attack him with magic.

But, to his relief, Merlin had not moved at all. The only difference to him since Arthur had left him to purchase the horse, was that he was now wide awake.

Arthur stared at Merlin from across the room, his gaze hard and cold. Merlin did nothing in return, and Arthur could see that he was going through some internal struggle. At one point Merlin had opened his mouth to speak, only to snap it shut a second later.

Frowning at his prisoner's odd behaviour, Arthur walked towards Merlin. Merlin's internal struggle, whatever it was about, had finally ended.

"Arthur, Arthur," Merlin spoke in a cold and dark tone, meeting Arthur's gaze with his own. Arthur could not hold back a flinch as he looked into those dark, black pits that were Merlin's eyes, "You shouldn't approach me like this. Who knows how much magic I have at my fingertips."

"None," Arthur replied shortly and untied the rope around Merlin's torso and the table leg.

"How can you be so sure?" Merlin grinned mockingly.

Now all that held Merlin to the table post was the rope around his wrists, but Arthur made sure that Merlin was not going to try and escape by pointing his sword at his chest. With the rope that had been tied around Merlin's torso, Arthur bound Merlin's hands a second time.

He then undid the rope that held Merlin's wrists to the table, only to tie them back up a moment later; but not around the table. With his sword he forced Merlin to get to his feet.

As he did all of this he responded to Merlin's question, "I am sure you don't have magic because if you did you would be gone and I, dead."

Arthur forced Merlin to walk in front of him, in the direction of the door. With his right hand he held the sword against Merlin's back; with his left, he held Merlin's bound wrists tightly.

"Very good, very good," Merlin laughed, but Arthur could detect a sense of urgency in his voice and, oddly, some restraint, "But what if my magic returns in the middle of our journey back to Camelot? What then?"

Arthur paused as Merlin spoke. They had reached the room's door now but Arthur did not open it. Instead, he reached inside his cloak's pocket and pulled out a small vial filled with murky green liquid.

"The stable wasn't the only place I went to this morning, Merlin," Arthur had to put the sword down to unscrew the vial's lid, but putting his foot over Merlin's kept the sorcerer from running, "My first stop was the apothecary. To buy this."

He drew Merlin's body close to him and held the vial over Merlin's thin lips. The sorcerer struggled and refused to drink it, so Arthur put his hand over his nose. Merlin struggled even more until he had to take a breath. As soon as Merlin opened his mouth, Arthur forced the contents of the vial into his mouth.

"Sleep, Merlin. Sleep," Arthur muttered as the potion took effect. Merlin's shoulders slumped and he began to sway on his feet, "You will not be able to perform any magic if you are not asleep. This is just a precaution, Merlin."

Just before Merlin collapsed, Arthur heard a sentence come out of his mouth, "My name is Emrys."

Arthur groaned as Merlin fell onto his body and he took a step back to brace himself for the extra weight. Merlin's eyes were closed and his mouth slack as he lay against Arthur's arms. Slipping the empty vial back into his pocket, Arthur used both of his hands to lift Merlin over his shoulder. Staggering slightly, he lent down and picked up his sword and sheathed it.

With his foot, Arthur kicked open the door and stumbled down the stairs. The inn keeper gave him an odd look, but Arthur muttered him a quick explanation on who he was and a warning to never tell anyone that he was ever here. Nodding, the inn keeper bowed and scrambled away.

The bay horse had not moved since Arthur had left it tied up to a wooden pole outside the inn. With a few groans, Arthur lifted Merlin onto the horse. After undoing the reigns, he clambered on behind and steered the horse away from the inn and to the streets.

He set off at a fast trot, hoping to avoid people in the streets. The hand that was not holding onto the reigns was around Merlin's torso, keeping him on the horse. The boy was not moving at all, and he could be mistaken for dead if it wasn't for the light fall and rise of his chest.

Arthur exited the Village by its northern path and kicked his horse into a canter. The movement jolted Merlin uncomfortably and threaten to throw him off but Arthur did not slow down. He had wasted time by stopping in the village and he needed to get to Camelot as fast as he could.

The brown, long grass that Arthur was travelling on whispered lightly as he passed.


	19. Emrys, Emrys, Emrys

**Beta: Saturn-Jupiter**

**Chapter 19 – Emrys, Emrys, Emrys**

Arthur ducked his head as another low branch threatened to hit him right in the face.

He was almost halfway between Redcrest Village and Camelot, having travelled as fast as he could for most of the morning. Now that Arthur had travelled past the plains and into the forests surrounding Camelot, the midday sun was no longer visible. It hadn't been visible in the first place, hiding behind one of the many clouds that had formed in the winter sky.

Arthur guided his horse through the trees, slowing his pace down now that there were more obstacles in his path than there had been in the flat plains. In front of him, with his hand still bound together, Merlin moaned as he jolted. With a pang of fear, Arthur knew that Merlin would wake soon and he had no more sleeping potions to give him. Merlin would attack with his magic, and Arthur knew that he had no hope of fighting him.

A sudden chill went down Arthur's neck, as well as the overwhelming feeling that he was being watched. He turned behind him, glancing around at the trees looking for hidden enemies. None appeared, so Arthur turned around again. As he turned his head, he saw a quick flash of something that looked like a pair of eyes. When he looked back they were gone.

Repressing a shudder, he gave his horse a sudden kick, hoping to pick up the speed a little. The bay horse bounded forwards, taking the permission to quicken with relish. It ran through the trees, nimbly dodging logs, rocks and trees that got in its way.

Suddenly the bay horse skidded to a halt and Arthur was almost thrown over the animal's head. Using his years of practice in horse riding, Arthur managed to stay on the horse, holding Merlin's body close to his so that Merlin did not fall off.

After the shock of the quick stop had worn off, Arthur looked down to see what had made the horse stop. His blood ran cold when he realised that only a couple of feet away from him was a sharp drop that ended in a fast flowing river. If the horse had not noticed the danger then...

Arthur patted the horse's neck.

Looking left and right, Arthur tried to see if there was any way down to the river like a path or even a section that was not as steep. He cursed his stupidity when he saw none; he had left the path hours ago so not to be noticed by anyone with connections with the sorcerers. He should have known that travelling through unknown country like this would make some obstacles that would be time-wasting and almost impossible to get around. Arthur knew his way well around the forests surrounding Camelot but he has never travelled through the forest from the direction of Redcrest Village. In the past, he had always taken the path.

In front of him, Merlin mumbled under his breath and Arthur's stomach plunged. He had to hurry. Making a decision, Arthur turned his horse to the left and readied his leg to kick the horse.

Suddenly, Arthur fell backwards as his horse reared back. His world span around him as he fell down the horses back, letting go of Merlin in the process.

Landing to the ground with, Arthur let go a groan of pain. He became aware of Merlin crashing down in front of him, landing onto Arthur's feet. With a groan, Arthur pulled his feet out from under Merlin and shakily got to his feet.

Quickly, he saw what had spooked his horse. An arrow prodded out of the tree just behind his horse. It had been shot from the surrounding trees and shook slightly from the force from hitting the tree.

Arthur's blood ran cold as he turned towards the direction that the arrow probably came from. Approaching with a mocking smile was a man. He wore a dirty brown tunic with breeches that had seen better days. In his right hand he held a sword with practiced ease, but Arthur could see a few mistakes in how he held it; obviously he had never been taught properly.

Behind him, Arthur heard a rustle and he swung around to see another man climbing down from a tree. He held a crossbow in his hands, but the arrow had not been released. Another rustle came from Arthur's right and he snapped his hand around. Arthur's throat constricted when he realised that he was surrounded with his back pressed up to the edge of the drop.

Grabbing Merlin's shirt and pulling him to the edge of the drop, Arthur planted himself in front of the slowly waking up sorcerer. His horse pranced around nervously and snorted. Arthur reached out to sooth the horse, but it bolted. The men dodged out of the way as it sped past them. Three of the men, one of which Arthur saw holding an empty crossbow, cursed under their breath and ran after the horse, disappearing from sight.

_Bandits. _Arthur realised, wetting his lips. They had come down from out of the trees, surrounding his in a half-circle against the drop. They smiled and laughed amongst each other, congratulating themselves on another catch.

With a jolt of anger, Arthur realised that they had done this many times before. It made sense really; find a person travelling through the woods, wait for them to reach the drop and then pounce.

He drew out his sword, and the bandits wavered slightly. They were not expecting their prey to fight back, but he was outnumbered so they continued approaching. Arthur pointed the sword to each bandit at a time, finally settling on the one closest to him.

The bandit smiled when Arthur singled him out, "Well, well, well. Looks like this will fight back. Pitiful really. You're outnumbered ten to one. Or five to one if you count that pathetic lump behind you." He laughed and the other bandits join in with him.

On cue, Merlin groaned again and Arthur risked a glance behind him. Merlin's eyelids fluttered and Arthur knew that he was waking up.

In the moments that he glanced behind him, in the moments of weakness, the bandits attacked.

Arthur brought his sword up to eye level, shielding himself from the first attack. He flinched slightly as the swords connected and a ringing sound entered his ears. Already he noticed that he was slightly out of practice. There had been no need for him to use his sword at the Isle, all of his possible opponents never using any type of weapon that required hands. He thought that maybe he should have practiced a little in between meetings, but he pushed that thought down. There would have been no time.

With his sword he pushed the bandit that was attacking him forwards a little. The bandit resisted but soon took a step back. Arthur pulled his sword back to his body, not wanting to unbalance himself. The other bandits had caught up to him now and were preparing for their first blows.

Quickly Arthur could see that the bandits had never really done many battles before, used to robbing helpless men and woman. Or if their victim was trained in swordcraft, their numbers quickly would prevail. It was obvious that they had never practiced much group fighting, as they had all approached in the same position; sword over their shoulders, ready to swing at Arthur.

The bandits swung at Arthur, not seeing their comrades doing the same as them. Arthur dropped down into a crouch, letting the swords swing over his hand. The bandits, expecting their swords to hit a solid target, stumbled into each other.

Arthur felt the two men trip and fall into him, but he wiggled out of the way just in time. Protecting his head, he pushed himself out of the group of bandits, who were trying to detangle themselves from each other.

Once he was a small distance from the bandits, Arthur got to his feet. His sword, which had been in his hand the whole time, was swung up into the ready position. Now, instead of standing with his back against the drop, had more room to move forwards and backwards.

After a few seconds, the bandits realised that their prey had escaped from their first attack. With grunts of anger at each other, they got to their feet and formed a group, staring at Arthur with hatred. Arthur took a step back, angling himself next to two trees so that the bandits could only attack from two sides. Half-heartedly he hoped that the bandits were stupid enough not to realise that any one of them could sneak around and attack him from the back.

The bandits approach him again, more cautiously. They were not willing to end up in another embarrassing clump again. Arthur could see that one of the ten bandits was not joining in on this second attack, opting to instead investigate Merlin. Arthur's grip on his sword tightened; though he was willingly to hand Merlin into his father, he did not want Merlin to be killed by these bandits.

The group of bandits had almost reached him, and Arthur shook his head of thoughts. He would have to concentrate on this battle. If he lost, then Uther would never get his warning about the sorcerers and it would be the end of Camelot.

* * *

Emrys opened his eyes, his head in a daze. He felt sloppy and confused the world spinning around his head. He wanted to go back to the calm of sleep but something wasn't letting him. He mumbled under his breath, shutting his eyes, to tell it to _go away._

He lay there for a few more seconds, trying to drift off into sleep again, but he became aware of heavy breathing near him. Frowning slightly, he raised his hand to push whatever it was away, but he couldn't extract his hand away from his other.

Blearily, he realised that his hands were tied together by something. Opening his eyes slightly, he saw through a spinning world a large shadow leaning over him. He closed his eyes as tiredness overcame him again.

"G...way," he mumbled, and the shadow laughed. Emrys felt something go over his body, searching his clothes and pockets. For some reason, it made him feel sick.

The heavy breathing above him changed slightly, and a laughing noise came to his ears; along with the peculiar sound of metal against metal. Emrys flinched and curled up, letting the fingers continue their search.

_No! _A voice yelled in his mind, battering through the daze brought on by the sleeping draft. Emrys felt a headache coming on, _You cannot show that you are weak. You are not weak! You are Emrys! All powerful! _the cunning voice screeched, and Emrys woke up fully.

Suddenly aware of the man above him that was searching his body, Emrys dug into his mind for the magic that reside there. To his euphoria, it was easily found and unleashed from his body. The man's eyes widened and he gave a grunt as he was flung back.

Emrys sprang to his feet, his confusion and dizziness gone. To his right he could see a small battle going on, but he did not pay it much attention; his focus was on the man that he had thrown from his body. The man was struggling to his feet, staring at him in fear. Emrys saw him glance around him, looking for a chance to escape. Emrys' lips curled as he contemplated what should be done with the man.

_Kill him._

Concentrating, Emrys raised his arm in front of him, his hand directed at the man, who he now recognised as a bandit. The bandit flinched and took a step back and Emrys smiled cruelly. Slowly, Emrys closed his hand into a fist as he stepped forwards until he was within touching distance. The bandit, now paralysed in fear, whimpered under his breath.

Suddenly he twisted his wrist around and released a little magic. The bandit's neck snapped with a terrible crunch and the body fell on Emrys. He pushed it off with his knee, his face full of distaste. With a small kick, that held more power than it should have, he kicked the body off the edge of the drop and into the water. He did not watch it fall, but took delight at the splashing noise that soon came.

Turning around, he finally took note of the other nine bandits. They seemed to be attacking another person, but Emrys wasted no thoughts on him. Instead, with a flick of his hands he made all of the bandits go flying.

Some of them crashed into trees, whilst others merely skidded on the ground. Only a couple missed the attack and they quickly halted the attack on the other person, instead turning around to face him. A movement from behind them and one of them fell with a cry; blood spurting out of his back.

Though Emrys took pleasure in the bloodshed, he was annoyed that the bandit had fallen from some other's hand, a hand other than his own. With an irritated flick of his hands, and a flash of red in his eyes, the attacker was quickly pressed against the nearest tree. He was not dead, merely restrained.

The bandits that had been thrown about before were getting up now, all expect one. The one that wasn't moving lay awkwardly on the ground, blood pouring out of his neck.

_One down seven to go, _the cunning voice laughed in his mind, but Emrys no longer thought it as a different voice in his head. It was his voice now. _Burn them, kill them and destroy them. Make your name feared._

The bandits approach warily, anger and fear clear in their eyes. They were afraid of him, but their fallen comrades had to be avenged; their bodies buried. Emrys enjoyed feeling their fear; he enjoyed then tension that lay between them.

Raising and hand, a smiling when the bandits flinched, he concentrated on the two bandits that had not fallen in the first attack. They annoyed him, no infuriated him, because they hadn't been flown about.

Emrys closed his fist again and the two bandit's hands leapt to their necks, dropping their swords. Emrys squeezed and they fell to the ground, choking and thrashing. One of their companions lent down to help, but realised that there was nothing he could do. Instead, he tightened his grip on his sword and took another step forwards with the rest of the group.

Frowning, Emrys realised that he wanted that bandit to panic and beg, not accept the inevitable. Though they glanced uneasily between each other, the bandits still continued their approach towards him with little panic.

Still squeezing his left hand, he used his right hand to command the fallen bandit's swords to rise. The two bandits closest to the swords stepped back uneasily from the swords, and Emrys lifted his head slightly.

He then unleashed his true attack.

With his mind, he set the two swords to fighting the two bandits; mercilessly attacking them and slashing at them. They cowered, not having any opponent to kill so they can stop the attack. He let go of the two choking bandits, leaving them at the brink of death. With his hand, he commanded the river to rise from the drop and rise above him in a wall. The water crashed and roared, but Emrys still could hear the bandits' pleas as they stumbled back.

"No! Please!"

Emrys let out a laugh, spinning it with all of his malice and bloodlust. With a tiny flick of his fingers, he let the wave roll over to the bandits. The water swept them up, making them crash into trees and fight against the water. But Emrys did not let the water go beyond the clearing-now-battlegrounds. Instead, he drained the water away, leaving five bandits spluttering and shivering. Two of them, the ones that had been choked, lay still.

_Toss them. Call up their fears._

With a lazy flick of his wrists, Emrys sent the unmoving bodies over the edge of the drop and into the river below. Stalking forwards, he call with his mind shadows and darkness.

At once the sun went behind a cloud, and the whole battleground grew colder and colder. Soon Emrys could see his own breath in the air as well as the creeping darkness that he had call. It came from the trees and spread over the clearing like a blanket. The bandits, shivering with the cold, cry out and started to panic. A few tried to run, only to be slain gruesomely by the two animated swords that still attacked.

_Three to go, _the cunning voice laughed, and Emrys joined along.

Now slightly bored, Emrys called fire from the ground near him. The two of the three remaining bandits, who stood on opposite ends of the clearing, whimpered and staggered back. Under their breath they were pleading to him; one of them had even fallen to his knees.

Emrys clicked his fingers and the fire blew out from him in two sections. The sections ran in a straight line, burning the grass as they went, and hit each bandit. Emrys closed his eyes as the screams pierced the air.

A few minutes later and there was no noise except for the roaring of the river below and the crackling. In the air, Emrys could smell the stench of burning flesh and smoke. He opened his eyes, performing a quick spell to rid the smoke from his eyes.

The once peaceful clearing had turned into wreck. Blood was splatter on the ground, as well as the bodies and the limbs of the bandits. The trees had lost all of their leaves and the fires raged on either side of the clearing, creating two impassable walls.

In the middle of these walls, the last bandit knelt. He was not attacking Emrys, or trying to flee. Calling a sword to his hand, Emrys stepped forwards until he was close enough to run the man through. But he didn't, he was too interested in what the man was muttering under his breath.

"...forgive me of my sins, and save me from this monster, my God..." the bandit prayed, refusing to look up at Emrys.

With his free hand, Emrys reached for the man's face and lifted his chin up, forcing the man to look into his eyes.

The bandit raised his voice, "...and I will be your servant for all eternity! Save me from this abomination, sent from hell itself. Save me!"

Emrys leaned in and taunted under his breath, the cunning voice telling him exactly what to say, "Your God will not save you from the memories that are imprinted in your mind. This _abomination from hell,_" he laughed, "is the last thing you ever see."

With a swift and powerful motion he plunged the sword into the man's heart, letting blood spill over his arm and shirt.

When the man was quite dead, Emrys pulled the sword away and dropped it to the ground. Sweat had formed on his forehead so he swiped it away with his bloodied hand, unintentionally leaving a trail of blood on his head. Rubbing his hands together he looked up, directly in front of him, the mysterious attacker that had brought down one of the bandits was pressed against the trees. His ash filled cloak and clothes was ripped and cover in blood and on his forehead was a cut that was slowly dripping blood. Another gash was on his right arm and his right eye was swollen shut.

Drawn by the blood, Emrys walked forwards, glad that he had one more prey to kill.

"No...Merlin," the attacker pleaded and Emrys felt a flicker of recognition but he brushed it aside.

"One more," he spoke in time with the cunning voice in his head, raising his hand.

"Merlin..." Arthur pleaded again.

_No!_

Emrys froze in shock, finally recognised who he was about to kill. He staggered backwards, his mouth dry. He raised his hand to his forehead, shocked to feel the blood there. Panting, he spoke.

"Arthur?"

But Arthur did not show any relief. When Emrys looked at his face closely, all that he could see was disgust and utter hatred of him.

Emrys staggered back even further, realising what he had done.

_It was wrong, _something said in his mind. _I am a monster._

_No! _The cunning voice argued and Emrys cried out as a flash of pain went through his mind. _You are Emrys. You are all powerful._

Shaking his head, Emrys looked up at Arthur again whilst trying to wipe the blood of his hands.

_Don't wipe it off! Show it to the world that you are Emrys and you will not be attacked by anything! _The cunning voice screeched and Emrys raised his hands to his hand and dropped to his knees. Pain shot through his head and he lost control of all of his spells. The fires died down quickly, and Emrys heard a grunt as the invisible bonds that held Arthur to the tree broke.

Emrys shuddered as another flash of pain shot through his head, as well as the conflicting emotions of pride and disgust. Suddenly, something cold touched this throat and he moved his hands away from his eyes.

In front of him, Arthur stood, holding his sword to his neck. Unmistakable fear and loathing was plastered onto his face.

"Get up," under the cold tone; Emrys could hear the frightened boy underneath. One part of him cheered whilst the other sobbed.

Instead of complying with Arthur's demand, Emrys shuffled back on his bottom. Arthur, growling, followed him.

"Get up," Arthur repeated and reached forwards to drag him up.

_Run._

Emrys was not sure which side of his mind ordered that, but he followed the order anyway. Quicker and swifter than he had ever been before, Merlin shot up and sprinted away. But after two steps Arthur caught his arm and dragged him back. In desperation, Emrys used his magic to fling Arthur back.

He fled the battlegrounds, leaving a betrayed, injured and unconscious Arthur behind.

**Next Chapter: Chapter 20 - Uther's Choice**


	20. Adoption Notice

**A/N:**

After much deliberation and thought (many years worth) I have decided to put this story up for adoption. :(

This decision came from years of watching reviews on this story grow and pleas for it to continue when I knew in my heart that I would not be continuing. I have decided to pass this story onto someone else so that they can give this ending the story deserves.

To those that are interested in adopting: I already have a planned plot-line written out chapter by chapter which I will send to the person(s) who adopt it. It is completely optional to follow and honestly might not make sense to some. It was also written very early in season 2 which is why Morgana is still good. Also anyone who is adopting also has to produce a story for evaluation. It made seem selfish but I don't want this story just going to anyone. A link to a story you wrote on or any other website would be fine or an excerpt from something else is you have no fanfiction written.

So PM me if you're interested and we;ll start talking.


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